Prov 7:21 [ESV] With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him.
The Mudwalker
I have this one ability, not sure that it would really ever qualify as a skill. I can walk fairly slowly through very muddy places for a long time. What kind of use is that, and is it of any sort of value? Can God use a “mud walker”? I usually end up with dirt up both my legs, under my nails, in my beard and hair, sweating, shirt hanging half open, with a slightly bemused look on my face, while slowly and deliberately putting one foot in front of the other. But then there is always enough time to stop and talk to others along the way, exchanging greetings, swapping tales, surprising each other with shared comrades and connections.
When you are an experienced mud walker, you look for roots in the mud and take care not to let these trip or unbalance you. And even through you may be stooped over walking, you are somehow able to carry another person’s burden.
There are times when you stop, bend forwards to rest with your hands on your legs, but the mud is all the way up and your hands simply slide down your legs, and no real moment of rest is found, so you go on. That’s part of being a good mud walker. There are times when others have gone on far ahead making the whole thing look ridiculously easy and you wonder if this really is your main ability, but you go on. That’s part of being a good mud walker. There are times when you want to stop, sit down and stay a while – but there is nowhere to sit down, so you go on. That’s part of being a good mud walker.
It’s not really something that many people do, so in that way perhaps it is a little bit special – but then you could say “why would anyone want to do this”.
I guess it’s about the unexpected moments that the mud walk takes you to. The times where you find yourself where no one else has gone before you. The times when you find yourself involved in intimate and precious moments that would have been missed but for the relentless mud walk. Even the moments of impossible rest somehow take on a chocolatey golden hue.
Do I ever wish that I had a different ability, well yes sometimes in the middle of a long and difficult mud walk I can think to myself “why oh why”, but then something happens and the struggle fades, and before you know it off I go again. But staying on the right path, even when it’s not sexy, not glamorous, not leading to any great or quick public acclaim, is the best thing any of us can do.
KNOWLEDGE There is here I think a glimpse of Psalm 91:3 and “the snare of the fowler”. There is a way that leads us into trouble, and once we are there, the more me struggle the worse it gets. The fowlers snare, like the smooth words of the woman in Proverbs 7:21 tighten on us as we go deeper into them. The “noose” used by the Greek translators of the LXX really emblemises the tactics of our souls enemy. This is no accident, we are not stumbling around somehow in the wrong place, this is a trail of breadcrumbs we have followed right into the point of degradation.
Satan loves to lead Christians into degradation – to hurt Jesus and to attempt to show [if it were possible] the pointlessness of his sacrifice. Satan is not in a game, he is in a hunt for eternal death for you and your soul, and anyone else connected to you that he can gather. Am I painting too dark a picture….only if we don’t recall that Jesus publicly humiliated satan on the cross, defeating sin and death and making a way for you and I to enter into eternal life with him, through his willing sacrifice.
UNDERSTANDING – Let’s pick one word from this verse to look closer at and see if that can help us gain a deeper insight into how God would love us to live?
The word translated in English to “persuade” in Hebrew is pronounced as “natah” The literal meaning is “to spread out; stretch out; to be extended; to turn aside, pervert, and lead astray”
The LXX is brilliant here I think – Prov 7″21 “She led astray and him with much companionship, with nooses and also by the things from her lips she has led him aground”
The LXX uses βρόχοις [brochois] as “with nooses” as a comparative to the OT “she persuades”. This Greek word also makes one appearance in the New Testament in 1 Corinthians 7:35 [ESV] “I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint [βρόχον] upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.”
WISDOM – Who I am when no one is around, is who I am. Is it time for change?
STRENGTHS THOUGHT: The Gallup Talent of “Communication” enables you to so easily bring thoughts into a compelling story, making great conversation and presenting your case strongly. Make sure your thoughts and healthy and you have a thinking partner who knows your biases and blindspots.
Allan’s Unauthorised Version –she instructs and teaches him, using all she has to lead him astray into a noose, with her smooth words from her lips till he finds himself cut off.
With much seductive speech – she instructs and teaches him
she persuades him – she spreads out to lead him astray
with her smooth talk – with smoothness from her mouth
she compels him – she causes him to be exiled
PRAYER: Father, thank you for today. Help me to listen to your voice, your words, and your Holy Spirit each morning and evening.
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