From the 5th!
23 He will die for lack of self-control; he will be lost because of his great foolishness.
Have you ever wished you could hop in a slick sports car, throw the top down, forget the seat belt, no brakes, and with unlimited speed? Oh to cruise down the road, blasting through intersections ignoring the colour of the lights, pass when you felt like passing, drive on any side of the road of your choosing. Talk about freedom, right? NOT!!! Who in their right mind would even consider driving in such a careless manner? Talk about a terrifying nightmare. Not just for you, but for every other person using the road! We would applaud the courts for permanently revoking the drivers licence for life! Who would want such a person on the road? Not me, that’s for sure!
But there are so many people who live their lives like that, day in and day out. Which is what the wise old king talking about in the fifth chapter of Proverbs. Now he is speaking specifically to those who choose to live sexually immoral lives, and if we could put it into today’s language, it would be comparable to driving a car with no brakes at an insane speed down a roadway with other motorists and pedestrians using that road.
People actually choose to live this way, completely unaware of the risk they are putting their life at, but other lives that are being put at risk. When that car goes out of control (and it will), mayhem will ensue, and oh the regrets that that crazy driver is going to have. The interesting thing is, we hear about these things happening all the time, and it’s been happening since the beginning of human history, and it continues to this day.
What’s at the root of the problem? If you’re a good ol Bible-believin’ Christian, then you would say ‘sin’. And that’s true…sort of. You see, when we say it’s ‘sin’, I think there’s a wee part of us that feels it’s not totally our fault – “It’s SIN’S fault!!”
Solomon calls it what it is – a lack of self-control. In other words…we lack self-discipline. It’s that common thread that runs through all of the book of Proverbs. It’s the people who have learned the value of self-control that are the wise ones! Think about it…
Finding Beautiful 