Wisdom to live by...or die by.

Probing Proverbs 11:3-6 Honesty guides good people; dishonesty destroys treacherous people. Riches won’t help on the day of judgment, but right living can save you from death. The godly are directed by honesty; the wicked fall beneath their load of sin. The godliness of good people rescues them; the ambition of treacherous people traps them.

Here are some incredible principles that if put to memory can take us through each day, while at the same time reinforcing truths about our life. Consider:

·      Honesty guides

So many seek purpose and direction in life. When we are honest – which means facing the realities of life…the good, the bad and the ugly…our steps will be guided by that truth. This is what makes individuals do the hard things, even the unpleasant things in life, because they are honest about the circumstances and behave accordingly, whether it be returning that money you found or leaving a note on the car you bumped in the parking lot so the owner can know how to contact you.

* Notice when we do this we are seeing in our life that we are “good.”

·      Dishonesty destroys  

What does it destroy? Reality! When you live in denial of truth you will never experience the real world. This is like athletes that win through cheating, or when you lie on an application to get a job – they are not really that talented! They have deceived themselves and some day it will catch up to them!

* Notice when we do this we are seeing in our life that we are “treacherous.”

·      Riches won’t help

Riches are great for comfort and aid, yet in the eternal things they really cannot help. God will never care about how much we had, He will care about how we got it and what we did with it.

* Notice when we count on temporal things, it exposes our ignorance concerning the Judgment Day.

·      Right living can save

This is simple to understand, but difficult to do. Many try to make it “complicated” to understand, which I consider a ploy to make excuses on why they fail. The Scripture makes it simple and clear what “right” living is, the problem is our fallen nature has it’s own desires. When we live the way God designed life to be, we will “deliver” (save) ourselves from many troubles…including eternal ones.

 * Notice when we choose to live God’s way it exposes our understanding that sinful living “separates” (death} from everything…joy, fulfillment and even God.

·      The godly are directed

Those that live God’s way receive direction from the Producer of all things! This opens an incredible door of opportunity to all options in life. God knows the beginning from the end and every intimate detail about who you are. Who better to get direction from?

 * Notice if we are living God’s way it shows we travel in “truth.” (Honesty)

·      The wicked fall

Those that choose a path of sin will not finish the race of life successfully, even if they exist on this earth for 100 years, at their appointment with their Maker they will fall short of living forever with Him.

 * Notice if we live in sin it exposes our ignorance of the “cost” (load of sin) that we will have to pay.

The godliness of good people rescues them; the ambition of treacherous people traps them.

This is a great summation of all we just read; simply put, living God’s way rescues a person from the evils of this world, the driven hunger for sin will entrap those that live that way. It really comes down to – whose pleasure do we seek; His or ours? By the way, when we choose His pleasure, we will find in retrospect, it was the best way to go and the pleasure we will experience loving Him will far outweigh any pleasure our flesh can offer.