My dear readers,

Thorny Life OR Plain Life?

Proverbs 15:19: “The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous is made plain.”

It is not difficult to observe an antithetical parallelism. The use of the conjunction “but” is a clear indicator. It means that the people of God have a choice in their lives. The context of Proverbs 15:19 is a choice on the manner of life. This is not about a moment of a person’s life because a moment does not determine the manner of life. But the repetitive habits of life do. What a person keeps on doing repeatedly or on a daily basis will determine the manner of his life. These are usually little things that he keeps doing daily. It is sometimes called routine or ritual. Examine his routine or ritual and his manner of life is revealed.

For the child of God, it is measured on a spiritual plane. His spiritual manner of life with his God is what Proverbs 15:19 reveals. The world does not have such a choice. The world does not have the Word of God as an alternative. Only Israel or God’s people have. Proverbs 15:19 and all other Proverbs of antithetical parallelism apply only to God's people. The fact that they have a choice is in itself a privilege. The challenge is what choice they will make and have been making.

The way of salvation was found inside Israel where everything they lived by was ordained by God to help them see Christ. They had the Temple of Solomon and the accompanying priesthood to perform and teach them all they needed to do that would help them see Christ through the Levitical sacrificial system. Their holy days were also ordained by God to remind them of their humble and spiritual beginning, and of their spiritual responsibilities and the presence of God in their lives. They were to live for Him and not for themselves. They needed to live as strangers and sojourners on their way to heaven even though they lived like landlords. Israel must never be like the Gentile nations around them. Instead they were to live in holiness so that the Gentile nations would want to be like them. To do all these, they first needed to believe in Christ so that the Holy Spirit would indwell them to enable them to make the right choice. Without the help of the Holy Spirit leading and guiding them, it would be impossible even when surrounded by all things ordained by God. It is in such an environment that Proverbs urges the people of God to choose how they want their lives to turn out.

The Way of the Slothful – To be slothful is to be indolent. He procrastinates and by his delay things are usually never done. He becomes untrustworthy. No one entrusts him to do anything regardless of how knowledgeable and convincing he is. All his talents, energy and time that could have been used fruitfully for the glory of God and blessing of others are wasted because he is just lazy! He is not incompetent as that would be a legitimate excuse. Laziness is one of the worst transgressions of the flesh that a child of God can commit. His way, i.e. his trodden path, is like a hedge of thorns. A hedge of thorns is useless to anyone who wants to have blessings from it. It keeps people away. If a person is entangled in it he will struggle to get out of it as fast as possible. It hurts everyone who comes into contact with it. There is no life-giving quality in such a thorny bush. But the life of a child is supposed to be filled with life through the amazing work of God's grace and mercies. Yet a slothful person will waste it all.

All of God's children have their ups and downs whereby on certain days they might not be as full of zest. They might be a little “switched-off” and will take a well-deserved rest from their labour. But the slothful makes his “rest” a way of life. That is why the word “way” is a trodden path. When a person begins his life, whether as a student or a worker, he stands before a wide open plain with no path. The moment he takes his first step and keeps walking, the direction he takes with that first step will begin to determine his “way.” He could change direction any time. He may have been diligent as a student but lazy in work life. Or he was lazy as a student but “woke up” and became diligent in work life. When he looks behind him he sees the way that he has traversed which determined his present state now. In front of him is still the wide plain; it is just that it is not as wide as when he started off as a seven-year-old when he entered primary school. 

The Way of the Righteous – The only righteous ones are true children of God who know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. They are renewed in their mind and spirit, for the Holy Spirit of God dwells within them. They live righteously because they are righteous within. They seek to do what is right and not what is expedient. To bring glory to Christ by righteous living is paramount. It is their singular goal and purpose of living. To accomplish this they study God's Word like a man hungry for his daily food. The righteous child of God not only understands God's Word correctly, he does so with a genuine and sincere heart of obedience. This obedience is one of perfection. What it means is that he obeys the Word of God, every jot and tittle that he learns, perfectly. He may know only 5% of God’s Word, but he strives to obey this 5% perfectly with God's help. This does not mean he is living a sinless, perfect life which is unbiblical.

It means holy living. When the Bible teaches him to repent, not only to his God alone but also to the person he sins against, he does so humbly and sincerely and makes all restitutions to ensure his repentance is true and genuine. Fruits of repentance are seen in his life. The Word of God is his rule book of righteousness. By this constant daily living he carves out his way. The word “way” of the righteous is not the same as the “way” that describes the slothful man. The former has the idea of a well-trodden highway. It is a more determined and carefully crafted manner of life. It takes hard work and deep commitment. Many obstacles have to be crossed to carve out this way. Stumbling blocks thrown in his pathway need to be overcome to cast away the garment of discouragement. The cloak of hypocrisy has to be shredded daily in order to have the garment of humility.

The outcome is a way that is made plain. Literally, it means “to raise up.” It is like a life that is raised above all the sinful and wicked ways. It is a life that is plain for all to see and it is not corrupted and has no bumps. It is transparent and genuine. It has no twists and turns and is not littered with pot holes of shame and hidden sins. It is a life that can be scrutinised and turned upside down and considered squeaky clean. The only fault that can be found in his life is in his sincere devotion to his LORD Jesus Christ, which was the case with the prophet Daniel. It is not perfect but it is indeed faultless. It is a life beyond reproach. It is simply a life pleasing to his heavenly Father. This is the life for all believers in Christ! Is this your life?

Food for Thought – Every step we take shapes the way we live.