Ecclesiastes 8:11 “Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.”
This is one of those verses that you might want to read from a few other versions.
NIV Ecclesiastes 8:11 “When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong.”
NLT – Ecclesiastes 8:11 “When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong.”
Message Ecclesiastes 8:11 “Because the sentence against evil deeds is so long in coming, people in general think they can get by with murder.”
Ecclesiastes 8:11 reminds us that dealing with disobedience takes discipline on the discipliner’s part and if we let things go too long and if we continually delay the discipline, a person’s heart is prone to become harder as well as others will begin to feel emboldened to commit crimes. I like to use the phrase, “It takes discipline to do discipline.” Hardly ever did a discipline situation come up at an opportune time and determining the amount/type of discipline is always a challenge. It takes discipline to do discipline. The bottom line is we who are responsible for imposing discipline be it a parent – a principal – a prosecuting attorney – a teacher – a coach – a judge – a jury, etc. must remember the lessons and impact of Ecclesiastes 8:11.
Another verse to go along with Ecclesiastes 8:11 that conveys the importance of promptness with discipline is Proverbs 13:24. It says, “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him promptly.” This conveys the lesson with Eccl. 8:11 that failure to diligently discipline disobedience opens the door for more disobedience.
How does Ecclesiastes 8:11 apply to you and your present responsibilities?
It takes discipline to discipline!
Failure to diligently discipline disobedience opens the door for more disobedience.
Continue Strong dealing diligently with disobedience,
And remember to DATE the Word