Day 20 - Proverbs

Wow, it's almost impossible to pick a snippet of Proverbs to use for our 66 Days.  Proverbs is one of my favorite books of the Bible.  One of the things I pray for most is wisdom, and Proverbs is chock full of wisdom.  You can just about name an issue and Proverbs talks about it.  Nevertheless, there are some common themes in Proverbs that you keep seeing:  money, relationships, wisdom, and language.  Yet, there is a theme you see over and over that is so key to all of us.  It's the ever-present question about what destiny awaits the righteous and the evil.

"The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity. 

The righteousness of the blameless makes a straight way for them, but the wicked are brought down by their own wickedness.

The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires."
     -Proverbs 11:3, 5-6

I believe these passages.  Now, this deliverance doesn't always come in this life.  We know that the ultimate victory for the righteous is found in eternity.  Sometimes, we don't see victory with our earthly eyes.  The believer has to accept that.  We don't live in a finite world, and God's maxims are not finite maxims.  They are eternal and carry eternal weight.

But...I think we often DO see the fruit of God's promises.  The temptation is to tire of living in righteousness.  That's because the key secret to the world's way of duplicity, wickedness and evil is shortcuts.  It always gets you there quicker.  The destination, though, is fool's gold.  It won't last because it's just not right.

I believe these promises from God because I have seen them in my own life.  I have seen that the fruit of wickedness in my own life is brokenness and emptiness.  I've seen that when I sow seeds of righteousness, they always reap contentment and peace.  They pay off.  The bottom line is that if we do wrong, it will catch up with us.  That's the lesson.  And, we have to keep on keeping on.  We have to keep digging in to do good.  We have to keep believing the promise and following Jesus.  We have to trust that righteousness is not just slightly better, but the only way to the life we've dreamt of having.  So keep keeping on.  Keep seeking Him.  And trust that deliverance comes for the faithful.