“You won’t find me in church! There are too many hypocrites that fill the pews. So, why should I go? They are no better than I am.” Most of us who do go to church have heard that phrase at one time or another. Most of us, however, don’t go to church because we are hypocrites, it’s because we’d rather not be one.
Most of us have a “check list” that lays out our personal differences between being a hypocrite not being one. For most of us it is a “personal thing.” We want our own definition to judge ourselves against others.
But, Solomon established the difference between being righteous and wicked. He removes any doubt for us: “Righteousness guards the man of integrity, but wickedness overthrows the sinner.”
If we love God, we will love what He loves and hate what He hates. Nothing complicated there. So, if God loves truth and honesty, pure living and obedience to His law, the righteous will, too. But, more than embrace what is righteous, they will avoid what is evil by guarding themselves against it. Righteousness does not mean Christians are passive, but active - involved in whatever it takes to avoid contact with behaviors God hates.
“Wickedness” here has an interesting meaning. It refers to “being deceptive to the point where the wicked act disgracefully and their behavior causes a ‘stink.’”' They see no reason to be concerned about what they are doing - but what they do will finally bring “disaster” - they will be overthrown. God will not allow wickedness to prevail!
Prayer: Father, give us courage to take an obvious stand against that which is evil and do what it right! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Scripture for Today: Proverbs 13:5 The righteous hate what is false, but the wicked make themselves a stench and bring shame on themselves.
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