Morning Devotion - Prov. 12

Read Proverbs 12

Again we see the contrast between the wicked and the righteous. This morning I reread the chapter a second time and noted what God is saying about the wicked...

He is one of evil devices. His words lie in wait for blood. He is eventually overthrown.
He has a twisted mind. He is ensnared by the transgression of his lips. His evil work comes back to him.
He is right in his own eyes. He has rash words like sword thrusts. He is filled with trouble.

Do you see the pattern? Out of a wicked heart proceeds rash and deadly words and actions that will ultimately bring only ruin.

But then we can read the chapter a third time from the standpoint of the Righteous One. Just a few details... He has regard even for the life of His beast. He has truthful lips that endure forever. He brings healing and his path is life.

Now consider Romans 4:4-5. "Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness."

Finally return to Proverbs 12:1, receive the perfect righteousness of the One Righteous Man, and also receive His discipline, for He disciplines those He loves. (Hebrews 12:6)

The Point: It will not be by your own good heart, good words, or lasting fruit that you will find life, but through Christ. Receive His kind discipline and reproof as one who by His grace has been moved to love and even to follow in the way of His wisdom.