Slow Leaks

(Proverbs 4:6 KJV)  Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.

What is the purpose of a “guard” (8104) (preserve KJV)?  Most of us live our lives without posting guards.  We don’t have someone staying awake around the campfire.  We don’t take turns pacing around the walls of our compound.  We have grown secure compared to those in the past.  But we do have our guards.  We lock our doors and windows.  We might have an alarm or a dog.  We might listen in the night for squeaky stairs or rustling curtains. 

I also keep a bat under the bed.  You see, a “guard” does not fight the battle for you.  The sentry simply calls out a warning.  The idea is to wake you up in time to engage the foe head on.  It gives you time to put on your pants and maybe tie your shoes.  Wisdom has many roles and an important one is to set an alarm off in our hearts and minds.  We are aware that something is wrong.  We have a new, used car.  It has bells and whistles.  One is a light on the dash that tells us we have a problem with our tires.  It came on the other day and we could not see anything.  We had just had the tires checked.  We ignored it and a few days later I noticed that one tire was going flat. 

So?  Wisdom, when consulted, will warn us about the slow leaks in our lives as much as the attacks of the barbarians.  For me the slow leaks are a greater danger.