Freedom to choose does not equal freedom from accountability.

Probing Proverbs 11:20-21 The Lord detests people with crooked hearts, but he delights in those with integrity. Evil people will surely be punished, but the children of the godly will go free.

One of the greatest difficulties that humanity wrestles with constantly is that actions always have outcomes. None of us can escape this reality, though many try. Individuals that choose to accept this reality wisely learn to measure their actions, realizing that they will experience the outcome. Others, thinking that in life credit really does exist, evaluate their actions in the same way they use their credit cards, a seemingly never ending amount of time to pay up, or if pressure becomes too great, just declare bankruptcy and walk away from the debt. Tragically for them, the Creator of this world does not work that way. Unlike plastic money, life operates in reality. Our actions always carry outcomes, both temporal and eternal. This Proverb warns about two bad outcomes and points out two great ones.

Notice: Actions of a crooked heart has the outcome of God “detesting” that person! Wow! Forget them seeking God’s favor in their projects or plans. Talk about your prayers hitting the ceiling and bouncing back! But wait, does this mean God does not love this person? No! God clearly shows the ability to separate a person from his actions. For many this concept is difficult, but it really should not be. God has extended His offer of Grace to all, no matter who they are. He will accept you where you are and the way you are; though He will not leave you there, His plan includes changing your character to reflect Christ. This is called unconditional love, and Scripture makes it clear that He has offered this to all.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

“All” means all! There are those that will endeavor to make the “all” mean a select group, the Scripture does not. So in essence God loves all, however that does not mean He blesses all. God’s Grace is based on unconditional love, God’s blessings are based on either His love or, as most examples in Scripture show, our life. Think about it, it makes sense; good parents always loves their child, but if that child is behaving in a harmful or destructive way, a good parent does not try to condone that behavior by blessing that child. This is the principle we see in this Proverb.

So this should shed more light on the next statement: “but he delights in those with integrity.” This does not mean God unconditionally loves anyone more than another, instead, it points out that His heart is filled with joy over those that live in truth! I have experienced this as a parent. When one of my children stands for Truth and honors God, I do not love that child more than my other children, but I do sense an inner joy for the acts of my child!

The next part of this Proverb warns and encourages us concerning the final outcome of our life.

“Evil people will surely be punished, but the children of the godly will go free.”

It is interesting to me that we humans, when we believe we have done right, expect to be rewarded, yet when we have done wrong, any bad outcome is God’s fault! Human beings will be the first ones to preach that any “salvation” is based on the works of a person’s life, and so if we have “tried” to do good, or have been “sincere” in our effort, we should be okay in the next life. However, unless we are talking about a Hitler, anyone who has made “mistakes” or lived “wasted” lives, human beings say it is due to this world and the suffering in it; which is God’s fault, hence we call God unfair! How often do those in this world say; “if God is so loving, why is there so much suffering in the world?” All the suffering in this world came into existence due to the fall of mankind into sin. God takes all the heat for our sin! Many in the world, in order to lay the “blame” on God, choose to make God the BIG chess player in the sky, that intentionally makes everything happen, and we are nothing more than His pawns, doing only what He “makes” us do. This makes their argument that God is the One that decides everyone’s eternity, therefore, all those that are separated from God forever, are there because they had no choice! In that case they are punished for doing what God “made” them do!

If you do that though, then all integrity of Scripture is gone! From the beginning…in the garden God clearly gave humans the choice. The “Tree” was an authentic test; humans would have known the difference between good and evil either way. If they had obeyed they would have known the difference by experiencing “good”, but they “chose” to learn the difference through disobedience! If you want to say God is responsible for the ability for us to sin, fine, that is proper because He is in Sovereign control. Nothing…that means 100%...happens unless He allows it. If though, you want to hold Him responsible for our actions, you have just disqualified Who God is in the Scriptures. The very fact that humans had the freedom of choice establishes the reality of God’s desire that we be creations with a direct impact in how we live. God has no problem creating robots; He is God! If you walk through all 66 books of Scripture you will see a never-ending theme of a Sovereign God; that extends to those created in His image the choice of how they choose to live! When you arrive at the end of the Scriptural revelation of God, you find a judgment seat where humans must give an account for their life. If there was no choice, then that seat, and the other 66 books are all some made up story, and it would not sell. Even the least educated person in the world can see that chaining your dog onto your couch and then punishing that dog for being on that couch, is not the act of a loving God, but of a mad man!

It is clear from Scripture that God has extended us free choice and we are free to make any choice we want except one, we cannot escape the consequences. Interestingly, the choice we make here and now is exactly what we end up with. If we live apart from God, then we are choosing to be apart from Him forever! If we live close to God, then He will grant us our choice!

The most powerful part of this Proverb is the last portion: “but the children of the godly will go free.” As a parent I can think of no greater peace than the security of my children. Again, we must keep Scripture in context, my children will grow into adults and must make their own choices to live close to God, however, Scripture and history establishes that when parents are godly, the vast majority of the time their children will grow up in love with God. What a wonderful freedom! Seeing your children not trapped by some dead religion, instead enjoying a loving, living relationship with their Creator!

Meditation: Who do you hold responsible for your actions? Why? Do you see God as a controlling Judge or an encouraging Parent? What’s the difference? Why does it seem at times God does not want you to do what you want to do? How do you feel about that? How much do you trust God?