Year ends but God’s reproof remains
“He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” (Proverbs 29:1)
This verse reveals a lot about the ways of men and the ways of God with the passing of time. Even though it is politically incorrect to call anything wrong these days, we can only conclude from this verse that people are up to things that require reproof. The Bible word for those things is sin. There is no question about whether or not we break God’s laws. The Apostle Paul is very clear, “All have sinned.” (Romans 3:23)
The question for every one of us is whether we have accepted God’s reproof and then gone on to accept God’s solution to the problem.
No one likes the uncomfortable process of being reproved but we must face facts. Our culture and its architects today are doing everything they can to see to it that those who sin are not reproved but are made comfortable and even special.
Yet being confronted with God’s Bible definition of sin and being reminded of God’s intense displeasure is the first necessity if we are to escape His condemnation.
So with the passing of the years, God has time and again reproved sin, by giving His Word, by sending preachers, by giving tastes of the sorrows of sin now, and by stirring dulled consciences. The crux of the issue is how you respond to God’s reproof.
This verse warns us of the very real possibility of resisting God’s truth, refusing His call, and persisting in evil.
This refusal to submit to the voice of God’s law is described as hardening the neck, and leaves the person with no way of escape from a sure and irremediable destruction. That is to say, the years of a sinner will not just keep going on forever. The reproofs will end. There is an appointed time for the Lord to intervene in every man’s course.
“It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27). Like our present earthly home, heaven and hell are places, not frames of mind.
The lesson from this verse is to reflect upon the passing of another year by taking to heart God’s still standing invitation of salvation for all who will take responsibility for their sin. Trust in Jesus Christ who died for sinners and rose again.