7 When a wicked man dies, his expectation will perish,
And the hope of strong men perishes.
8 The righteous is delivered from trouble,
But the wicked takes his place.
And the hope of strong men perishes.
8 The righteous is delivered from trouble,
But the wicked takes his place.
Message: The righteous, not the wicked, in the end
Time: It seems that Proverbs was written and then compiled sometime between
the tenth and sixth centuries B.C. Proverbs was probably written during
the reign of Solomon, 971-931 B.C.
What the Lord is Saying:
The mark of the Christian, I see often in scripture, is hope for the future. Culture and society trains us in the idea of "live for now" or "go for the gusto" or "just do it." The overwhelming sense then is to grab all that you can right now because now is all that we know. The challenge I see often in talking to people about the Lord is to get them to think about their entire life span. Ecclesiastes reminded us earlier that their is joy and good times in the here and now, but the majority of scripture reminds that God is concerned about our eternal well being.
As Stephen Covey made famous in his book, "7 Habits of Highly Successful People" we are to "Begin with End in Mind." Life actually takes on more fulfillment when we think first about where we are going so that we can then realize that we are on a journey and so what we do now means something.
These verses, I think, make mention of the wicked man that has set in pattern a life that is primarily concerned about this present life only. It is very true that right now the wicked do often prosper. I see this all the time and I know other people see it and therefore our ideal is trying our best to capture the best of both worlds and yet it seems that my primary focus day in and day out is on the prosperity of now versus later.
So this Proverb here is very important. It reminds me that the toil of wicked man right now (and man is wicked when he ignores God as his creator, Lord, and Savior) is momentary and his expectation will perish. His best laid plans will come to an end.
The hope of the Christian is eternity with God in heaven. This is why a Christian is a Christian. A person comes to Christ because of a recognition that their sin separates them from God and this is significant for today and tomorrow. Christ paid the penalty for sin. Each person can be free by knowing Christ and his forgiveness and love.
It is then that the "righteous is delivered from trouble." There is no trouble for the righteous. It is the wicked that end up in trouble.
Promise: The righteous, not the wicked, in the end
As Stephen Covey made famous in his book, "7 Habits of Highly Successful People" we are to "Begin with End in Mind." Life actually takes on more fulfillment when we think first about where we are going so that we can then realize that we are on a journey and so what we do now means something.
These verses, I think, make mention of the wicked man that has set in pattern a life that is primarily concerned about this present life only. It is very true that right now the wicked do often prosper. I see this all the time and I know other people see it and therefore our ideal is trying our best to capture the best of both worlds and yet it seems that my primary focus day in and day out is on the prosperity of now versus later.
So this Proverb here is very important. It reminds me that the toil of wicked man right now (and man is wicked when he ignores God as his creator, Lord, and Savior) is momentary and his expectation will perish. His best laid plans will come to an end.
The hope of the Christian is eternity with God in heaven. This is why a Christian is a Christian. A person comes to Christ because of a recognition that their sin separates them from God and this is significant for today and tomorrow. Christ paid the penalty for sin. Each person can be free by knowing Christ and his forgiveness and love.
It is then that the "righteous is delivered from trouble." There is no trouble for the righteous. It is the wicked that end up in trouble.
Promise: The righteous, not the wicked, in the end
No comments:
Post a Comment