Proverbs 11: 20-21
“20Those of crooked heart are an abomination to the Lord, but those of blameless ways are his delight. 21Be assured, an evil person will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered.” Proverbs 11:20-21 ESV
This scripture contains something a little scary in my personal opinion. Being an abomination to the Lord? An evil person will not go unpunished? God ain’t messing around!
On a lighter note, ‘The ways of the blameless are His delight’. I read this and immediately start racking my mind for a way I can earn blameless bonuses. Pray more, do that bible study, encourage a friend… Once idealism passes, I quickly shift focus from being a blessing to just avoiding a scolding. I think we can all have that mindset from time to time. Thankfully I feel the Holy Spirit wanting to interrupt me, ‘No no no. You are counting the tallies all wrong.’
Like myself, you might find your good tallies in the list I stated previously. You may find your bad tallies in forms of problems, stresses, relationships gone mislead and life’s direction undecided and unknown. But I want you to read this scripture not solely focused on the cause and effect statements but also another theme. That even the righteous find themselves in need of deliverance. The promise isn’t so much that life is going to be effortless, we all know better than that, but the promise instead is that we won’t be fighting our battles alone when we choose to walk in God’s way. Next time you are tempted to evaluate your life based on circumstance or good and bad tallies, refocus, and remember that it’s the heart that the Lord looks at. When our hearts seek His way, we can rest trusting that we will also find His deliverance.