How many times have I heard this verse (Proverbs 4:23) and rolled my eyes? I've heard it so many times that I complete the sentence when it's started and we all know that means I'm not listening or taking that in, I'm just acknowledging it's there.
Today, that verse took on a whole new meaning for me. A friend recounted a story that left a bitter taste in my mouth; her neighbor was murdered by her husband when she asked for a separation after years of abuse.
The man insisted on dropping her off at her mother's because she was going with his children and he wanted to make sure they were safe. He stopped in the middle of nowhere and said the car had a problem and that he needed her help changing something in the back. It was a two hour drive to her mother's place and the children had fallen asleep in the back. When she got out, he knocked her unconscious, tied her up, and placed her on a pile of corn stalks that had been gathered in preparation to be burnt. He then set fire to the pile and left her for dead.
After that, he dropped the children off about a block from his wife's mother's place knowing that the nosiness of village neighbours would ensure they got to their grandma's. The children were still asleep (they were three and five years old).
Long story short, the woman was found when the smoke from the fire alerted neighbours. The corn stalks were not completely dry and so smoked a lot. She died after a week at the hospital. She told her story before dying.
Her children made it to their grandma's and the old lady's search for her daughter led to her finding out about the fire.
The man went to his family and told them he came home from work to find out the woman had run away with the children and that the woman had threatened suicide several times so he was worried and wanted them(his mum and sisters) to go check with his in-laws if his wife had come home.
The police followed his mom and sisters back and arrested him. Sadly, nothing they do to him will bring her back.
Some people make wrong choices about whom to entrust their hearts to and suffer heartache, etc. Some pay with their lives and/or souls.
Whom you decide to love and/or marry is not about who makes your friends the most envious of your good fortune or who can make your toes curl in bed. It's also a choice of how good the rest of your life will be, and sometimes as we've seen, how long that rest of your life will be.
As the New Living Translation puts it, "Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life".
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Didnt know that verse existed. Means a lot when you think about it.
ReplyDeleteYou are right. How the rest of our life goes is what matters the most.
This is indeed a very deep verse,also never knew it existed,guess life does have a user manual after all,failure to read it is what get us into certain situations. *i think*
ReplyDeleteSituations like this are so terrible to hear about, but so important to raise awareness because of...
ReplyDeleteHow scary! yesterday I also head a horror story of a west african man in london that killed his children to get back at his ex wife, then he called the cops. it seems like all these violent men, get even more violent when the wives leave. smh it's all very sad.
ReplyDelete@ Think-about-it: Yes it is...
ReplyDelete@ Didi: you got it :)
@ A Beer for a shower: ...because of reasons :) Yes they are. We take so much for granted.
@ Bombchell: Wow. That is so sad. As if the children weren't his blood too. smh. too sad.