Probing Proverbs 14:11 The house of the wicked will be
destroyed, but the tent of the godly will flourish.
When I was growing up, it seemed that to become a millionaire
was an incredible accomplishment. Even back then I remember hearing and later
reading about individuals that made it to that level of financial success, yet
were miserable with life. Today, it seems millionaires are a dime a dozen and
now we have so many billionaires they are hard to count! Still…the
level of enjoying more of life than just materials things continues to be
elusive.
Just in the news right now is the story of a man that owned an
Island, and private jet…had everything of material value…yet proved to be very emotionally
disturbed and did not consider young girls to have the same rights as he did.
All his wealth could not bring him a real satisfaction of life and when the “house” he
had built began to fall, even life eluded him. God takes no pleasure in the
death of anyone that is not safe in His arms and a possessor of eternal life…not
even the wicked. (Ezek 33:11) This
Proverb places the emphasis of having a life that flourishes on quality, not
quantity!
What strikes me is the comparison of the words “house”
versus “tent”. A
house would always seem stronger, more comfortable and safer to be in. A tent
can be blown away by a strong wind. Yet it is the house that is destroyed and
the tent that flourishes! Those that walk close with God, though living in a
tent will see a better life than those that choose to live their own way…even
their house will be destroyed.
Another story found in Matthew comes to the same conclusion,
though in this case it is about two houses with different foundations.
Matthew 7:24–27 “Therefore everyone who hears these words
of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on
the rock. “And the rain fell, and the
floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been
founded on the rock. “Everyone who
hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man
who built his house on the sand. “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the
winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”
The man that lives close to God, his house stands despite the
storms that life bring. The house of the man that ignored God’s
teachings saw complete destruction of what he had built.
I do not know about you, but I have built on both foundations
in my life. Those times where I struggled listening to God never led to any
goodness or quality in my life, the times I have sought Him and His ways, have
always brought a deep joy and peace in my life. My hope is that I have endeavored
to build most of my life on rock, and especially the rest of my life!
The So What: How much do you see God’s standards and His
word impacting your life? Do you take time to evaluate how you are building
your life? How effected are you by the world’s standard of what success is? Whose
opinion matters the most to you?
