Proverbs 29:1. He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing.
How stubborn are you? Are you stiff-necked? An ox that was stiff-necked and wouldn’t turn when the farmer needed it to was a useless animal. Such an animal might even have to be destroyed.
In the Old Testament, the Israelites were often called stiff-necked by God. Stubborn. Hard hearted. Incapable of repentance. Could you be described this way? When Israel was stiff-necked they simply would not listen to the word of God. Moses would tell them what to do. They would do the opposite.
Today’s proverb describes someone who is stiff-necked when they are reproved or corrected. I know I hate to be corrected. My inner lawyer is always right there ready to defend me. I’m not wrong. It’s not my fault. But what about you? Really, you’re bringing that up? What about all the good I do? That’s what you think? Rather than taking the opportunity to humbly listen, repent, apologize, and make amends, I often refuse to turn. I become stiff-necked.
No one can relate to God properly and remain stiff-necked. We must be able to humbly repent and turn away from sin and back toward God. In his love and mercy, God is often reproving us. Like a good father, he chastens the child he loves. Through our conscience. Through his Spirit. Through his word. Through his church. Through our brothers and sisters in Christ. Through governments. Through circumstances. Through all things (Rom. 8:28). If you are unaware that you are often reproved, then you are unaware of your own sinfulness and God’s grace in your life. You are stiff-necked. What’s worse is when you become aware of all the ways God is correcting you and you still resist his work in your life.
The warning is that such a person will be broken beyond healing.
There are two realities in scripture when it comes to our repentance. The first is that God is ALWAYS open to our repentance. Draw near to God and he WILL draw near to you. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and he WILL lift you up. The door to God is always opened by our repentant response to God. But the second truth is that the more we ignore the Spirit’s impulse to repentance, the slower we are to acknowledging our sin, the more defensive we become, the less likely we will be to enter into the throne room of God’s grace. God never shuts the door. But we do. And then, stuck in our own delusion, we wake up one day and suddenly realize that our relationships are broken beyond healing. We suddenly feel so spiritually dry, and so far from God. Like the Prodigal Son, we wake up with the pigs and suddenly realize that our life has taken a terrible turn. Why? Because we wouldn’t turn back to Christ and his cross.
Repentance before God and others is a habit of the heart that must be nurtured and fed every day. Returning to the gospel over and over again is the answer. The cross softens our hearts, reminding us just how sinful we actually are. So sinful that God HAD to die for us. The cross re-yokes our lives to Jesus, as we return to him to find rest for our souls. The rest that comes with knowing that God DID die for us.
By our union with Christ and his cross, the reproof of God should never stiffen our necks again. In Christ, we can receive our Father’s ongoing correction for what it is – love! Love that won’t let us run away without sending our older brother, Jesus, to chase us down and bring us home.
You: In what ways are you stiff-necked? Stubborn? Unrepentant?
You in Christ: How does our union with the cross both allow us to face our sin in repentance, and boldly receive God’s grace?
Christ in you: Is there a form of correction that Christ in you has been using lately, but you have been resistant to? How can you humble yourself to it today?
Pray: Father, your door is always open, but often, in my pride, I fail to walk through. Keep my heart soft as I meditate on your love for me in Christ as your child. Amen.
To Live is Christ 