Social Distancing for the Soul!

For over two months now, our lifestyles have seen drastic changes due to Covid 19. From face masks to hand sanitizer to gloves to directional arrows to limited gatherings…and the list could go on and on, extreme measures have been taken with hopes of reducing the spread of the coronavirus. The CDC has set forth guidelines and, for the most part, citizens have been compliant and become more cautious – for their health as well as the health of others.

While reading the “Proverb for the day” the other morning, I came to verse 5 and couldn’t help but think of a phrase our country has been bombarded with the last couple of months:

“Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them.” Proverbs 22:5

Toward the end of the chapter, the phrase came to my mind again.

“Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go: Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.” Proverbs 22:25

Both of the above verses speak of maintaining a safe distance from certain types of individuals. That sounds like social distancing to me! If you are familiar at all with the book of Proverbs, you will know it is full of words of wisdom as well as words of warning.

What about these verses on “social distancing”:

“Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.” Proverbs 4:14,15

Or this verse:

“Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge.” Proverbs 14:7

Here’s one:

“It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house.” Proverbs 21:9

And this one in the same chapter:

“It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman.” Proverbs 21:19

Concerning the strange woman, Proverbs 5:8 instructs:

“Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:”

There are many other warnings in this wonderful book of wisdom. I guess you could say that the book of Proverbs is a believer’s CDC –

Christian’s Destruction Control.

For the past few months, the purpose of social distancing has not been to completely cut off relationships. I would say some common phrases heard among extended family and friends have been – “I love you but I’m not going to hug you” or, “We love you, but please don’t come and visit yet”, etc. And, I would say that the majority of responses have been without offense as people have become more sensitive to not just their own health but the health of others as well.  

Likewise, social distancing for our souls is not meant to completely cut off relationships. But, for our own spiritual well-being, there will be times when we must choose to love people from a distance. Matthew Henry’s comments on Proverbs 22:24,25 are:

Here is, 1. A good caution against being intimate with a passionate man. It is the law of friendship that we accommodate ourselves to our friends and be ready to serve them, and therefore we ought to be wise and wary in the choice of a friend, that we come not under the sacred tie to any one whom it would be our folly to accommodate ourselves to. Though we must be civil to all, yet we must be careful whom we lay in our bosoms and contract a familiarity with. And, among others, a man who is easily provoked, touchy, and apt to resent affronts, who, when he is in a passion, cares not what he says or does, but grows outrageous, such a one is not fit to be made a friend or companion, for he will be ever and anon angry with us and that will be our trouble, and he will expect that we should, like him, be angry with others, and that will be our sin. 2. Good cause given for this caution: Lest thou learn his way. Those we go with we are apt to grow like. Our corrupt hearts have so much tinder in them that it is dangerous conversing with those that throw about the sparks of their passion. We shall thereby get a snare to our souls, for a disposition to anger is a great snare to any man, and an occasion of much sin. He does not say, “Lest thou have ill language given thee or get a broken head,” but, which is much worse, “Lest thou imitate him, to humour him, and so contract an ill habit.” ~ Matthew Henry

Today, my thought is two-fold:

1. How serious are we with what God’s Word says about social distancing? Are we willing to risk offending someone in order to protect our own spiritual health?

2. Are WE someone from whom others would see the need to social distance? Is it time to self-quarantine for a while in our prayer closets?  

“Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.” Proverbs 4:26,27

“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23,24