As An Ox Goes To The Slaughter…

As An Ox Goes To The Slaughter…

So many years ago when still a young man and roaming the country in active addiction it was not uncommon to chase those things which should never have been chased. Many would say that if it were breathing and moving about the chase would be on. The “victory” was always the same. Carnal lust and self-seeking pleasure are that way, it only wants more and more. Victims were of no concern, they were merely something to be gathered, used and tossed aside.

These forays always led to another and another and another. Never satisfied, never filled always wanting. Wanting to the point of everything changing and becoming more and more about an unrealistic pleasure that did not exist. It was no different than chasing the next “high” when engaging with drugs and alcohol. It was the exact same thing, only a different “substance” was being abused, that substance was a person, a child of God.

With her much fair speech she caused him to yield,
With the flattering of her lips she forced him.
He goeth after her straightway,
As an ox goeth to the slaughter,
Or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;
Till a dart strike through his liver;
As a bird hasteth to the snare,
And knoweth not that it is for his life. ~ Proverbs 7:21-23 KJB

After coming to for the last time and life changing events began taking root it became important to revisit the path where all the destruction lay. Lives forever changed, people hurt and still others who were just as broken didn’t seem to understand what was happening. Making amends is like that, a mixed bag of emotions and a mix of encounters, reactions and end results. People are people and most of us just want to be happy, care for our family and live in the present. When the past comes knocking on the door or ringing the phone, well, it disrupts whatever is happening.

Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children,
And attend to the words of my mouth.
Let not thine heart decline to her ways,
Go not astray in her paths.
For she hath cast down many wounded:
Yea, many strong men have been slain by her.
Her house is the way to hell,
Going down to the chambers of death. ~ Proverbs 7:24-27 KJB

It is when our lives change that we can see what we have done. When we are living in our flesh, selfish, self-centered and self-serving to the bitter end we can only see the next shot, the next pill or the next victim. Never taking into account anyone but ourselves. This is the highway to hell when we thought we were climbing the stairway to heaven.

Either the Scripture is the divine Word of God teaching us how to live and how to be a reflection of God, or it’s nothing more than a historical account of events.