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?

Eyes are made to "see" where we are going, not "decide" where we are going!

Judges 14:7-11 So he went down and talked to the woman; and she looked good to Samson. When he returned later to take her, he turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of the lion. So he scraped the honey into his hands and went on, eating as he went. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them and they ate it; but he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey out of the body of the lion. Then his father went down to the woman; and Samson made a feast there, for the young men customarily did this.n When they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.

There was a real add placed in a newspaper, it read: "Rent-a-jogger": "Rent me for $1.95 and I will jog for you at least one mile each day (weather permitting) for the next year." The customer even gets a framed certificate, which reads, "Your jogger is securing for you the benefits of a healthful glow, extraordinary stamina, an exciting muscle tone, and power-filled sense of total well-being." Within days of the ad's first appearance, 322 people had sent him $1.95!

It staggers the imagination the disconnect the eyes have with reality! When we “react” to what our eyes see…including read…we can respond in very foolish ways. Why? As we examine this portion of Samson’s story we will deal with it in two devos. This first one we must stop and once again take note the emphasis the Scripture makes on how Samson lived by sight.

Vs. 11: So he went down and talked to the woman; and she looked good to Samson.

I want to point out four dangers we place ourselves in when we walk by sight!

Danger of living by sight:

·      The eyes can neutralize the brain. 

Genesis 3:6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

Eve’s brain was so enticed that she forgot about the warning from the Creator. No questions about why the Creator would lie to her, no concern that a serpent was encouraging her to do what she knew was wrong, no thought of what the consequences will be.

When we walk by sight our brain can become fixated only on what we see and not consider the outcome!

"A young man once found a five dollar bill on the street. From that time on he never lifted his eyes when walking. In the course of years he accumulated 29,516 buttons, 54,172 pins, twelve cents, a bent back and a miserly disposition.

·      The eyes have an unending appetite.

Proverbs 17:24 A discerning man keeps wisdom in view, but a fool's eyes wander to the ends of the earth.

Proverbs 27:20 Death and Destruction are never satisfied, and neither are the eyes of man.

If you have ever gone food shopping when you are really hungry you have experienced this! Everything you see you want to eat! When you get home and have 1 simple meal, you then wonder why you spent your money on 4 pizzas, a double bag of chips, three packages of hotdogs, 8 cans of spam and 4 extra large packages of double stuffed Oreos!

If we discipline our appetites with our common sense we will save ourselves much grief, not to mention a lot of money when we shop!

·      The eyes do not have a reliable perspective.

Proverbs 28:11 Rich people may think they are wise, but a poor person with discernment can see right through them.

Psalm 36:1–2 Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart; There is no fear of God before his eyes. For it flatters him in his own eyes Concerning the discovery of his iniquity and the hatred of it.

Consider a couple in Louisville who wanted to sell their home so they could find their dream house. They called a friend who was a real estate agent.  He wrote an elaborate description of their house and read it to them for their approval. “Read it again,” they asked.   The man glanced at his wife, then leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes. After the second reading, he was silent for a moment. Then he said thoughtfully, “I don't think we'll sell.  We've been looking for that kind of place all our lives, but until you read that description, I didn't know we had it. I think we'll just keep the place.” His wife agreed.

·      The eyes get their drive from the world.

1 John 2:16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.

Sadly, too many believers throughout the ages have failed to allow the Lord to bring a proper balance to this Truth. Scripture is not saying that all the things that are in the world are evil. When we have that attitude we think spirituality is based on depriving ourselves of things and pleasures. Far too many in the Church were duped by the enemy in this matter. The result was they missed out on enjoying much of God’s Creation and freedoms that He desired for His children to experience. This also translated into a spiritual pride and arrogance that was so distasteful that the next generation…their own children…ran away from the faith! This should not be so, God made the world and the things in it for His creation to enjoy…BUT…not be possessed by them. This is the other extreme. Many believe their only happiness and purpose in life can come from the things of the world. The tragic truth is that as they acquire more and more they deceive themselves into believing they own so much…but the truth is they are owned! They become the slave to the very things they thought they were the master of.

Isaiah illustrated this well:

Isaiah 44:14–17 He cuts down cedars; he selects the cypress and the oak; he plants the pine in the forest to be nourished by the rain. Then he uses part of the wood to make a fire. With it he warms himself and bakes his bread. Then—yes, it’s true—he takes the rest of it and makes himself a god to worship! He makes an idol and bows down in front of it! He burns part of the tree to roast his meat and to keep himself warm. He says, “Ah, that fire feels good.” Then he takes what’s left and makes his god: a carved idol! He falls down in front of it, worshiping and praying to it. “Rescue me!” he says. “You are my god!”

God desires balance! He wants us to enjoy the good things in this world, and to feel good about what we do right. We do not have to abstain or be lustful, braggadocios gluttons! If you seek God first, He will guide you into a balance where the world’s beauties and pleasures can be experienced and actually mature your soul instead of drowning it!

Meditation: How much time do you spend thinking about material things? How much of your life is consumed with the temporal things of this world? Have you learned to enjoy your money without becoming a servant of it? What is the focus of your day; How can I please God? OR How can I please myself?