Don’t Harden Your Neck
Hey, little buddies!
Proverbs 29:1 says, “A man who hardens his neck after much reproof will suddenly be broken beyond remedy.” A hard neck is talking about a horse that doesn’t want to obey the rider. When the rider pulls on the reins to slow the horse down or turn him in another direction, the horse makes his neck stiff so the rider can’t control him and he can go on doing what he wants.
Well, this verse says that people can be like stubborn horses. When my dad was a young man, he was working with a group of people on a farm, picking tomatoes. There was a boy there who kept playing down at the edge of the field where there was a creek. There were some deep holes in that creek and it was dangerous to play along there if you weren’t a good swimmer.
Several times that day, different workers would call to the boy and tell him to get away from the creek. But he “stiffened his neck” and went on doing what he wanted to do. Sometime that afternoon somebody noticed the boy was missing. Quickly several people rushed down to the creek. There was that disobedient boy, in the water over his head. They pulled him out, but he had drowned. My father gave him artificial respiration to save his life, but it was too late.
This story is sad but it is true. Don’t be like that boy, hardening your neck when your parents or other wise people are trying to tell you the wise thing to do. Humility is a great character trait, so be humble and take good advice. Don’t be so set on having your own way that you suddenly find out you’re in trouble you can’t get out of.