From the Gazelle to the Ant...unexpected wisdom?

Not so very long ago, I was sitting in a Sunday School class where the conversation focused on how we approach the scriptures...at issue was this question:

Do we change the way we interpret scripture in order to make it better fit our perspective, or do we allow scripture to change us as we encounter what it says?

We could get quite a debate going on this question, but I don't recall it in order to start a debate, as much as to point out how fascinating is the process of reading scripture day after day, not ever knowing what the next reading might present to you. Like traveling down a crooked path, one never knows what might be around the next curve in the road, and sometimes the content can be surprising...

Today we're looking at Proverbs 6, which covers some interesting and varied ground...as I said yesterday, scripture is known for its dynamic nature; and as a result of this dynamism, what might speak to me in chapter 6 might not speak to you at all...still...I continue to find that in the midst of multiple worthwhile topics, there always seems to be one message that floats to the top for me...and today, the wisdom is unexpected...

Included in chapter 6 is a passage about the wisdom of ants, and how they prepare their stores for winter while it's still summer...and do so without any outside leadership or direction...ants are compared to sluggards who lay around and never get anything done...I can certainly appreciate the admonition to productivity, but today for some reason, I don't think the wisdom of the ant is the message meant for me...

Instead, I have to talk about a curious passage found in verses 1 through 5:

"My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge for another, if you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth, then do this my son, to free yourself...go and humble yourself; press your plea with your neighbor! Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids. Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler..."

I look at this passage and see a modern translation that goes something like this:

If you've gotten yourself into a commitment that you can't keep, or something you can't handle...get out! Don't pass go, don't collect $200...don't even let yourself go to sleep at night before you get out! Run for your life!

In the Christian tradition, it is considered quite important to keep your word, and to keep your commitments, and for that reason, I found the writer's admonition to "run" very surprising. I think it is important for us to be people of integrity, and to be keepers of our word...but perhaps there is an equally important nuance to be considered...

There are times in our lives when we get "in over our heads," so to speak, and after having made a commitment, we realize that we simply can't live up to its requirements. The author of Proverbs doesn't recommend that we pack our things in the dark of night and leave town...but rather, that we go to the person to whom we've made this commitment, make an honest confession of our predicament, and then...get out.

Depending on your own perspective, you might take issue with the passage, or my interpretation of it....but there it is...for your consideration as well as mine.

As I said, it surprised me when I read it today, and if nothing else, I think it is sometimes a healthy thing to be surprised by what the scripture has to say...