Proverb 1:11

“If they say, ‘Come with us,
Let us lie in wait to shed blood;
Let us lurk secretly for the innocent
without cause;‘”

Crazy as it may sound, I have never had the urge to lie in wait in dark corners eager to shed the blood of innocent people. And I have never been compelled to join others in a pre-meditated cold blooded act. Does that mean I can skip over this Proverb assuming that it simply isn’t applicable? Not in the least.

Even if the sinners in my arena wanted me to participate in a horrendous scheme they were devising, I’m guessing they would know me well enough to take a different approach than, “Hey you want to help us commit murder?” They would be right to assume that my answer would be “No.” Every time.

Instead, they would be slow and subtle in their invitation, introducing me first to their “dark corner” from which they lurk. Once I’m accustomed to their environment, they will reveal their weapon to me. And when the shock has worn off, they will invite me to hold it. And when the moment is right they would trick me into pulling the trigger. 

But as I’ve already pointed out, the sinners I brush shoulders with don’t entice me to slay innocent people—at least not physically. A certain commandment comes to mind: “‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.” (Matt 5:21-22)

Ah—anger! Now that I can relate to. How enticing is it to evoke anger when a co-worker vents about my boss who is already under my skin? Or to berate a third party (like your boss) to someone whose nose doesn’t belong in the situation (enticing them to participate in the blood shed with you)? Or to come to conclusions about someone because of something you overheard in a conversation that didn’t belong to you in the first place?

What I’m referring to here, is gossip. Or the imaginations of a suspicious mind. The danger here is that we will feed off of each other in our gossip sessions to the point of destroying someone who we think deserves it at the time. Or we let our imaginations get the best of us and assume things about people that we have no business assuming.

First off, judgement doesn’t belong to us. So as much as we would like to justify our intentions with statements like, “he had it coming to him” or “she deserves it”, we fool ourselves by sugar-coating the fact that we are lying in wait, secretly lurking to shed the blood of the innocent.

The greatest command we have been given is to love the Lord our God with all of our hearts, souls and minds. “And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matt 22:39)

In 1 Corinthians 13, we get a clear picture of what that looks like. Love suffers long, is kind, does not envy, does not parade itself, is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. It never fails.

So the next time I feel undue anger swell inside of me, I will suppress my suspicions with a liberal dose of grace for the suspect; lest I shed his innocent blood and be judged to the same extent.