Last week's thought closed with this sentence: "God has one word to describe what our response needs to be when we find ourselves approaching danger: FLEE! Don't stay around to be bitten!" We will continue looking at the parable of the young man who lacked discernment, understanding as found in Proverbs 7:6-27. One of the many effects of being raised in a dysfunctional environment is not learning how to sense and pick up signals that one is approaching a "high risk" area.

"I have covered my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. Come, let's drink deep of love till morning; let's enjoy ourselves with love! My husband is not a home; he has gone on a long journey. He took his purse filled with money and will not be home till full moon."
(Proverbs 7:16-20)

It's hard to believe that this young man was so naive that he didn't realize the risk he was exposing himself to! Maybe it was curiosity that caused him to linger; maybe he was bored with life and needed some adventure; maybe he needed some good old-fashioned "attention" and for someone to notice him simply felt too good to ignore - the bottom line was what was he willing to sacrifice to have that need met! In all probability he wasn't even thinking of the consequences - he was too caught up with the moment! That is what often happens when our lives are lived without purpose and direction - we end up doing what feels good at the moment. The more time he spent listening to this woman, the greater the slippery slope that he was on became. It was only a matter of time before he would begin sliding. "With persuasive words she led him astray; she seduced him with her smooth talk." While this particular parable involves a warning against the adulteress, it could equally be applied to other situations as well. "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy....." (Colossians 2:8a). In our present day, we are facing great danger from "pluralism" which demands that we must not say that anyone else's belief is inferior or, worse yet, flatly mistaken. To say someone is wrong is to be intolerant, to be close-minded and provincial, to be extreme and is impossible to reason with. Like this youth in the parable who lacked judgment (being unable to determine whether something was right or wrong) there are many a person today who are being seduced by the smooth talking pluralist who tell us that there is no such thing as something being universally "right" or "wrong". Truth, they say, is determined by opinion or belief - believing, is what makes something true!

Nowadays our thinking has become so befuddled and cock-eyed about fundamental issues that people can merely voice their beliefs and think it ends the discussion. If believing something makes it true, then there's nothing more to talk about. And persistence in the issue violates pluralism because you're implying that your view is better than someone else's.

But because another's beliefs may differ doesn't need to mean that discussion is at a standstill. Beliefs may be equally valid in that they are consciously held by sincere people, but they can't be equally true if they are contrary beliefs. Maybe the adulteress sincerely felt her beliefs to be valid, therefore true! However, along comes God who clearly states that adultery is wrong - How can we as rational beings believe that both beliefs are equally true when such beliefs are so utterly contrary to each other!

Back to our parable of the young man who lacked judgment - a tragic ending to a young man who had so much potential!

"All at once he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose till an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him his life.......many are the victims she has brought down; her slain are a mighty throng. Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death."

Before making choices and/or decisions, each person needs to stop and ask themselves a simple question: What are the possible consequences if I choose to ignore the warning lights that are flashing on the dashboard of my life?

A reflection: If I did "regular maintenance" by doing personal inventory of my life I wonder if I would be spending less time dealing with the "emergency lighting" that pops up so regularly?