The righteousness of the upright will deliver them, But the treacherous will be caught by their own greed. Proverbs 11:6
There are reasons to be righteous and godly that are expalined by the path itself. Such is the case with today's proverb. It is one that is kind of self-explanatory. Let's take a look.
The righteousness of the upright will deliver them. This simply means that the fact that we live a life that is right in the eyes of the Lord will be a source of deliverance itself. Let me give an example. I knew a brother who was wrongfully accused and stood before a federal court in what could only be described as a no-win situation. His lawyer counselled him to 'bend' and 'twist' the truth a little during his testimony so that he would be seen by the jury and the judge in a better light. He struggled with this advice because he knew the Lord wanted him to simply speak the truth. The morning of his testimony God confirmed this to him and he purposed in his heart to speak the truth - even if it made him look bad in court. As he testified he spoke only the truth. Several times this should have made him look bad - but he spoke it any way. When he came off the stand - his lawyer looked at him amazed. He said to him, "Your testimony just won this case." Sure enough that is exactly what happened. The righteousness of this brother's testimony was what delivered him. When they saw his honesty and his godly behavior on the stand - the jury and the judge knew that this man was not guilty of the charges that had been leveled at him.
The treacherous don't come out as well in the end though. We are told that their own greed with cause them to be caught. To be treacherous simply means that someone is untrustworthy. They cannot be trusted. In the end, it will be their own greed that will be their downfall. They will want a little too much - and will reach beyond where they should - and that will ruin them.
What a great picture for us. Doing what is right delivers us - it delivers us from so much just for doing the right thing. First and foremost it means we are NOT doing the wrong thing. We are not doing something illegal or ungodly. The very good choices of the righteous means that they are not making bad choices. This protects them greatly from serious error and serious problems. But the ungodly - they are just weaving a net for their own feet with their lying ways. The web of lies and deceit they weave - meant for someone else - meant for some poor sap to step into - winds up being the very trap they themselves will fall into to their demise.
There are reasons to be righteous and godly that are expalined by the path itself. Such is the case with today's proverb. It is one that is kind of self-explanatory. Let's take a look.
The righteousness of the upright will deliver them. This simply means that the fact that we live a life that is right in the eyes of the Lord will be a source of deliverance itself. Let me give an example. I knew a brother who was wrongfully accused and stood before a federal court in what could only be described as a no-win situation. His lawyer counselled him to 'bend' and 'twist' the truth a little during his testimony so that he would be seen by the jury and the judge in a better light. He struggled with this advice because he knew the Lord wanted him to simply speak the truth. The morning of his testimony God confirmed this to him and he purposed in his heart to speak the truth - even if it made him look bad in court. As he testified he spoke only the truth. Several times this should have made him look bad - but he spoke it any way. When he came off the stand - his lawyer looked at him amazed. He said to him, "Your testimony just won this case." Sure enough that is exactly what happened. The righteousness of this brother's testimony was what delivered him. When they saw his honesty and his godly behavior on the stand - the jury and the judge knew that this man was not guilty of the charges that had been leveled at him.
The treacherous don't come out as well in the end though. We are told that their own greed with cause them to be caught. To be treacherous simply means that someone is untrustworthy. They cannot be trusted. In the end, it will be their own greed that will be their downfall. They will want a little too much - and will reach beyond where they should - and that will ruin them.
What a great picture for us. Doing what is right delivers us - it delivers us from so much just for doing the right thing. First and foremost it means we are NOT doing the wrong thing. We are not doing something illegal or ungodly. The very good choices of the righteous means that they are not making bad choices. This protects them greatly from serious error and serious problems. But the ungodly - they are just weaving a net for their own feet with their lying ways. The web of lies and deceit they weave - meant for someone else - meant for some poor sap to step into - winds up being the very trap they themselves will fall into to their demise.
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