August 7

Written by Bill Grandi on August 7th, 2019

My title for this devotion is Slow Burn vs Flash Fire.

I often hear people say, “It just happened. I wasn’t expecting that.” Or some form of that. But if my experience tells me anything, it tells me it didn’t happen overnight. Let’s call it a slow burn.

This hit me as I was reading Proverbs 7 today. The whole chapter is a warning against the adulteress but several slivers caught my attention. After detailing how he watched the young man put himself in a bad position, verse 21 says, “With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him.” Notice the word seductive. That’s a word that fits slow burn.

The tragedy is he put himself in her path. He meandered toward her. The description of his fall (a stag and a bird) is further proof of what happens. Slow. Wandering. Trapped. He didn’t wake up and say, “I think I’ll go be seduced by a prostitute today.” That would be a flash fire, a purposeful decision, even one made in “the heat of the moment.” No, like most people, it was a slow, sometimes aimless drift.

Two other verses are sobering and telling: “He does not know it will cost him his life.” (v.23b). But the more telling one are these: “Let not your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths, for many a victim has she laid low, and all her slain are a mighty throng.” (verses 25-26)

Be careful of the slippery slope. Be careful of the gradual slide. Be careful of the slow burn. That is far more common than the flash fire.

“Father, I play too close to the fire at times. Someone has said, ‘When you play with fire you either get burnt or smell like smoke.’ Help me not to see how close I can get, but how far away I can stay. Help me to stay out of the trap.”

 

8 Comments so far ↓

  1. Diane Ronzino says:

    I love the analogy of the slow burn vs. the flash fire! Absolutely!!!

  2. Ryan S. says:

    Much truth here… When one hovers on the line they shouldn’t cross, a small trip up can leave you on the other side

  3. Have you ever heard the song “Slow Fade” by Casting Crowns, Bill? Exactly the same premise. We don’t get burned all at once, but are lured slowly into sinful behaviors. We do need to wake up in time and step back.
    Blessings!

    • Bill Grandi says:

      I’m not a CC fan so I’m not sure I have but by the title I can see how it would apply to this. Thanks for the reference Martha and the comment.

  4. floyd says:

    “Mighty throng”. That goes to show the power of the ill hearted woman, and man for that matter.

    They will use all their sales skills to prey on our weak flesh and ignorant minds. Gotta put on the armor!

    • Bill Grandi says:

      We must never forget our mortal enemy prowls around like a lion looking for someone to devour.