Rescue those being led away to death;
hold back those staggering toward slaughter.
If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,”
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who guards your life know it?
Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done?
At first glance Proverbs 24:11-12 describes those literally being led away to death. I thought about those in the sex trafficking rings or those being persecuted in foreign countries. We need to save them! We are responsible!
But at second glance, I wonder if these are figurative as well.
We see people around us that we love and have our trust that are being led away to death in sin. We can’t stand by. We can’t say we knew nothing when our heart knows differently.
We’re not here to be each other’s Holy Spirits. He does well without us. But sometimes we need to be David’s Nathan (2 Samuel 12) to say wait a minute. You’re better than that. I love you more than that. You don’t want that.
Go to those people you are invested in going down the wrong path. Rescue them. Hold them back.
This verse is not a license to chastise and judge but an invitation to a conversation. The wise aren’t responsible for the outcome but they are responsible for the first step.
Challenge: Who do YOU need to have a conversation with?
This post is part of The Nester’s 31 Days Series