The Two Sides of Freedom

Proverbs 1:10 (KJV) My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.

I discovered a new type of verb today.  It is called the “jussive”.  It is similar to the imperative in that it is a command but it has the sense of responding to another.  When this says to not “consent” it is not talking about an inner decision.  Well, it may start there but that is not the emphasis.  This is talking about giving the “sinners” a stiff arm, rejecting them in a very clear way.

Combine that with the sense of “entice”,  which is a continued and ongoing action, it tells us that people are going to continually try to drag us down and we must be very decisive in our rejection.

So?  Part of being free creatures is being confronted with moral decisions.  In many cases the temptation and pressure does not just go away but continues to drag us down.  That is the price of being free to make decisions.