“Under three things the earth quakes, and under four, it cannot bear up: under a slave when he becomes king, and a fool when he is satisfied with food, under an unloved woman when she gets a husband, and a maidservant when she supplants her mistress. ” (Proverbs 30:22-23 NASB)
If there is one book in the Bible that lends itself to textual preaching, focusing on one specific verse for a truth, Proverbs is that book. However, sometimes you have to make sure you read the text verse in context of other verses.
Keeping to my promise to make it short today, look what could happen if someone stopped at verse three in Proverbs, and ignored the colon. You remember from your days of taking English Composition in high school or at institutions of higher education, colons are used to extend a sentence or direct the reader’s attention to a related, connected list. The inspired writer used the colon in that way in the opening passage. So don’t stop at the colon.
For if you fail to continue after the colon, you might wrongly walk away thinking you have one more opportunity to behave out of your Christian character before everything around you breaks loose. Your surroundings will quake at any time, depending on how much rope God wants to give you, but you don’t get seriously concerned with your behavior until the fourth transgression. Who are we to determine when God will withdraw His mercy? And certainly, if we continue in things that are sins against God, they become habitual, and out of habit we skip a figurative colon. Furthermore, only God know what number you are on! Smile!
My advice to you comes from familiar verses in Proverbs. Forget the “colon” analogy, stop counting, and forge on under the direction of the Lord. Have a great day! Remember worship tomorrow! Be blessed!
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 NASB)
Mark L. King