Proverb 2:17

“Who forsakes the companion of her youth,
And forgets the covenant of her God.”

This woman, the seductress, has forsaken her youth, lost her innocence. She has forgotten the child who got excited over the sight of a ladybug, thought herself well enough to dress up and unashamedly run into her father’s arms and sit on his knee. She has forgotten the joy she receives from picking a flower and smelling it’s perfume. She has no recollection of trying to please others, or win their approval for doing right.

Instead, she seeks after her own pleasure. She despises others’ advice. It takes far more than a ladybug to excite her. And she is so full of shame she finds herself unworthy of dressing up. She tells herself she doesn’t need anyone and locks herself in a prison of solitude. She fails to see the flowers she walks past every day and her life has a putrid stench.

This is how you know someone has lost their covenant with God.

How we need a reminder of what it was like to be a child. Remember everything you hear from this woman is deceptive. She will try to tell you that you’ve lost that innocence and can never regain it. But remember, God is showing you the way. Listen for that whisper among the shouts. Go where he says to go. Stay where he says to stay. (Is. 30:21) And one day, you will find yourself strategically placed in the midst of a green meadow thick with red ladybugs and lined with fresh flowers fighting for your attention, “pick me!”

Rest a while in that meadow, child.