“He dies for lack of discipline and because of his great folly, he is led astray.”
– Proverbs 5:23
As I read Proverbs 5:23, I think about my own life discipline, like there have been times in my life, seasons in my life, even in my life as a pastor where I have lacked discipline, discipline in seeking God, discipline in his word, in prayer, in spiritual disciplines of study and meditation and fasting. And when I have lacked discipline, it is had a disastrous effect on not just my life, my relationship with God, but others around me.
Growth in spiritual disciplines will not happen accidentally. Let’s ask God to help us not to be led into folly, but to carry out our lives in disciplined pursuit of Him.
Discipline is so important. Not a rigid, obligatory, dutiful discipline like, okay, I must be rigid and having this amount of time in prayer and this amount of time in the word and then this amount of time and this or that because I have to. But instead disciplined pursuit of God because I want to and all I want that in my life. You look at all these proverbs, this exhortation after expectation to seek wisdom, to keep your path, keep your feet walking in the path of God, trusting in the Lord, acknowledging him in all your ways, avoiding evil.
All of that requires discipline. That doesn’t happen accidentally. That’s intentionality and it’s not discipline because we have to. Discipline him because we want to. We don’t want to wander into evil. We don’t want to wander away from God. We don’t want to live foolish lives. We don’t want to be caught in the snare like we see in Proverbs 5:23, this warning against adultery that just can be so ruinous in a life and in a marriage. So, Proverbs 5 ends with these words. He dies for lack of discipline and because of his great folly, he is led astray.
Proverbs 5:23 Can Be A Warning for Our Lives
Without discipline, we will be led into folly and we will go astray. So, God, we pray for discipline in our lives. We pray for a disciplined pursuit of you. We pray that spiritual disciplines would be active in our lives. Regular consistent disciplined praying, disciplined reading and studying and meditating on your word. Discipline to worship, disciplined gathering together with the body of Christ, disciplined fellowship. God, all these things that you’ve called us to in your word. Help us to be disciplined in our obedience.
Help us not. Help us not to drift into folly, to be led astray into evil, and to die for lack of discipline. God, we pray that you would help us to be a disciplined people by your grace, for our good, and for your glory. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
