Proverbs 10

The text’s focus is sharpening.

Chapter 10 is chock full of information.

Consider, Wisdom’s words touch on wickedness, work, foolishness, the tongue and wisdom itself.

How do you and I process this list?

Consider just one nugget. In verse two: “Treasures gained by wickedness does not profit…” You and I might object. The person has obtained a treasure! Certainly, they have gained material wealth. The situation might be viewed as, “Yes they have gained material wealth, but have the truly profited?”

Yet there is a theme, a word, running through the chapter, that we will read over-and-over. That word, “Righteous/ness”.

Being “right with God’s ways”, indeed being “right with God” should be the goal of our lives. (Remember what the beginning of wisdom is?)

As people, as we walk through life, we know well that we are far from perfect. We fall well short of being “right with God” solely by how we live our lives.

Please don’t misunderstand. There are many people who are kind, generous, and more. Yet they are not perfect. They are not “right with God” because they are thinking they can “do life without Him”!

Which is why as followers of Jesus, we celebrate his life, death, and resurrection. Turning to Jesus, confessing our sins, receiving God’s grace through His perfect life—in essence saying, “Jesus I cannot do life apart from you!”—is what makes us right with God.

As you and I scan this list of sayings in chapter ten, I can tell you we will return to many of these individual topics again. However, let’s begin with a few observations:

1.    The idea that there are people who are righteous is important. Yes, we as God’s creations, are all equal, but…

Equal does not mean Same. There are those who pursue righteousness and those who do not.

Today we read the Lord will not let the righteous go forever hungry, he blesses their heads. God’s Word proclaims the wages of righteousness is life.

2.    Compared this to wickedness. Consider verses 11, 16, 24, and 27 through 32. Might you observe that God is not a big fan of wickedness!

3.    Further this idea of Right-ness penetrates all sorts of things, work and even how we speak.

I pray you are thinking, “I cannot do this consistently!”

If so, you are like the Psalmist, who prays

Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness    because of my enemies;    make your way straight before me. (Psalm 5:8)

But how will God answer that prayer? Consider one of many verses.

5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. (Jeremiah 23:5)

You see, it is not possible that we are perfect, and if we thought we were, then we would be like those un-teachable scoffers. Rather it is faith. 

 For in it (the Gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:17)

And so, we give praise that we are righteous in him

30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30)

The point? Right living is hugely important—we can only do it when Jesus is in us—and that is only placing our faith in him.

Where are you with right-living and with Jesus these days?