Life is about living, not existing!

Probing Proverbs 11:16-19 A gracious woman gains respect, but ruthless men gain only wealth. Your kindness will reward you, but your cruelty will destroy you. Evil people get rich for the moment, but the reward of the godly will last. Godly people find life; evil people find death.

I remember I once was having a conservation with a very rich person. I don’t know if he was asking me the questions he was because he thought that I had designs on his riches, or if he just did not understand my apparent disregard for money. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate money and would appreciate having even more. I would deeply appreciate having enough money to fund the ministry I am in and never have to raise support again, but that is not the way God has led in my life.

What I do mean is that I have never craved money, nor do I now. I see it as a tool to use. I also have no problem with people enjoying their money, that is what it is for. The dilemma is when a person becomes enslaved to money and loves it. They end up serving money instead of it serving them. Sorry, I digress, this man kept asking me questions about my attitude on money and finally I tried to sum up where I really stood with it. I said, “Some people want to be known in this world for what they have…I want to be known for how I got it!”

I count Character of much more value than money. Sounds honorable, but it is not, it is common sense! This life at best is 100 years…eternity is…well that’s the point, isn’t it! This Proverb brings out a very important Truth we should all take heed to. Let’s consider it:

Someone that lives close to God Gains: Respect; this is something that is intangible and has no end! Years after your body has gone the way of all men, people will remember your Character! In eternity God will honor you for your character, not for what you owned.

Someone that lives for this world Gains: Only wealth; The key is “only!” Material wealth is fleeting and temporal! All of it will burn, the only lasting aspect of material wealth is how you used it, and that again is tied to character!

Someone that lives close to God Gains: Rewards produced by their Kindness; The old saying: “What goes around comes around” is very true. The Scripture states it this way:

Galatians 6:7–8 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Many will see this in this life, right here and now. I know my family has, folks we have been kind to have come back into our lives to bless us. Still, even for the most persecuted child of God, a martyr, they have a reward directly from God. Stephen saw the Lord waiting to greet him as he gave his life and refused to return evil on those that killed him.

Someone that lives for this world Gains: the very opposite, their cruelty will Destroy; them! The same principle applies here. Look at the verse in a translation that uses more modern vernacular: 

Galatians 6:7–8 Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.

Someone that lives close to God Gains: a reward that Will Last; Versus

Someone that lives for this world Gains: Riches that Last for the Moment; If we refuse to see the reality of eternity we will deceive ourselves and be content with “the moment.” However, when that “moment” has passed the regret we will have will be overwhelming and…worst of all…too late!

And Finally…

Someone that lives close to God Gains: Life; This is the quality that makes existence more than just that! Having brain waves and a heart beat becomes redundant if quality of life is not manifested. Just take note of the rich and famous suicides that happen on a regular basis. Being alive is not equal to living!

Someone that lives for this world Gains: Death; This is NOT cessation! In truth I wish it was! I would prefer that God had made us in a way to be temporal if we reject Him. But He did not. This is the part of the Truth that no one likes, but must face. When God breathed His spirit of life into that clay, man became a living creature that would exist forever, unlike any other created thing on the earth. God is not a man that He should lie! He made us in His image, which includes a part of eternity. The forward part; God is eternal in His entirety, no beginning and no end. You say: Nate I don’t get that! Join the club and anyone that claims to get it is lying!! The finite cannot explain or comprehend He Who is infinite! I cannot get my hands around eternity past, but I can understand eternity future. My mind can comprehend that there is no end; I believe this is because God placed that knowledge in our hearts:

Ecclesiastes 3:11 Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.

Sadly, death does not equal an end and non-existence. It actually is a beginning of only existence, separate from life and the Author of life. Anyone that is happy about this truth needs counseling. Even God does not rejoice in this reality.

Ezekiel 18:23 “Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord God, “rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?

Ezekiel 18:32 “For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord God. “Therefore, repent and live.”

Ezekiel 33:11 “Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’

There are those that represent God as this hateful, mean Creator…they are liars and misrepresent Him. He has given as a stewardship to humans the choice of where they will spend eternity. All will exist forever…where is their choice. C.S. Lewis stated it well:

“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done." All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock it is opened.”

― C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce

Meditation: When you look at your life, what fruit do you see? This Proverb does not teach “how” to be in a relationship with God, but it does illustrate “how” you can know if you are! The fruit of your life will expose that! Here is where you can decide how serious you are. Go to someone close in your life and ask them: Am I gracious most of the time? Would you describe me as kind, and based on how you see me talk and live, would you describe me as godly?