Righteousness vs. Wickedness

 

     Spiritual matters are incredibly binary: narrow gate or wide gate; difficult way or broad way; sheep or goat; right hand or left hand; heaven or hell.  There is no middle ground.  There is no gray area.

     Proverbs 10 categorizes your options and lifestyle as either righteous or wicked.  And, the contrast could not be more distinct:

  • “Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivers from death” (v. 2)
  • “The Lord will not allow the righteous soul to famish, but He casts away the desire of the wicked” (v. 3).
  • “Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked” (v. 6).
  • “The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot” (v. 7).
  • “The mouth of the righteous is a well of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked” (v. 11).
  • “The labor of the righteous leads to life, the wages of the wicked to sin” (v. 16).
  • “The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; the heart of the wicked is worth little” (v. 20).
  • “The fear of the wicked will come upon him, and the desire of the righteous will be granted” (v. 24).
  • “When the whirlwind passes by, the wicked is no more, but the righteous has an everlasting foundation” (v. 25).
  • “The hope of the righteous will be gladness, but the expectation of the wicked will perish” (v. 28).
  • “The righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not inhabit the earth” (v. 30).
  • “The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked what is perverse” (v. 32).

     When Jehovah weighs your life in His balances will the scale read “righteous” or “wicked”?

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Author: jchowning

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