Tag: Righteousness

Person walking on forest trail with sunlight streaming through trees

Wisdom Protects Against Temptation and Chaos

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“It will rescue you from a forbidden woman, from a wayward woman with her flattering talk, who abandons the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God; for her house sinks down to death and her ways to the land of the departed spirits. None return who go to her; none reach the paths of life. So follow the way of the good, and keep to the paths of the righteous.” (Proverbs 2:16-20 CSB – Read the chapter)

The other day, I found myself in a conversation with one of my boys about Tiger Woods. He had brought up the fact that Woods had been arrested recently and was telling me all the details of the story. I noted that Woods’ story is a sad one. Not all that long ago he had it all: he was the best and most popular golfer in the world, he was fabulously wealthy, he had a literal supermodel for a wife, he had two beautiful kids. What more could anyone want? And now, while he may still have lots of money, the rest is gone for good. Why? Because he didn’t have wisdom and so he stumbled down this particular path that wisdom helps us avoid.

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Young man standing at a rural crossroads with hooded figures pointing at him

Avoiding a Dangerous Road

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“My son, if sinners entice you, don’t be persuaded. If they say—“Come with us! Let’s set an ambush and kill someone. Let’s attack some innocent person just for fun! Let’s swallow them alive, like Sheol, whole, like those who go down to the Pit. We’ll find all kinds of valuable property and fill our houses with plunder. Throw in your lot with us, and we’ll all share the loot”—my son, don’t travel that road with them or set foot on their path, because their feet run toward evil and they hurry to shed blood. It is useless to spread a net where any bird can see it, but they set an ambush to kill themselves; they attack their own lives. Such are the paths of all who make profit dishonestly; it takes the lives of those who receive it.” (Proverbs 1:10-19 CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the things the Scriptures are pretty clear that we shouldn’t mess around with is temptation. We sometimes imagine that resisting temptation is like a muscle. The more we do it, the stronger our ability to resist it gets. I’m not so sure, and the authors of the Scriptures (who were inspired by God) seem to agree. The apostle Paul doesn’t tell us to resist temptation or fight against it, he tells us to flee from it. Run away. Do not engage. Don’t test it to see how long you can hold out. Hightail it in the other direction. That doesn’t make you a coward, it makes you wise. How do I know? Because the very first bit of wise counsel we are given in Proverbs has to do with staying away from temptation. Let’s take a look.

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Man in stained clothes sitting on couch watching television in cluttered, dirty room

Morning Musing: Philippians 4:7-9

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“Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things. Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Jesus once said that it is not what goes into the body that corrupts it, but what comes out of it. He was talking about food because the Pharisees had been fussing at Him about what the disciples were eating and over their not doing all the proper washings before eating. His point was that they were focused on external matters of symbolic righteousness that didn’t ultimately matter very much while neglecting the much more significant matters of internal righteousness. But when He said that it is not what goes into the body that corrupts it, He wasn’t entirely correct. Let’s talk about why.

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Morning Musing: Romans 16:19-23

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“The report of your obedience has reached everyone. Therefore I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise about what is good, and yet innocent about what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. Timothy, my coworker, and Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my fellow countrymen, greet you. I, Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord. Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus greet you.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

What are you known for? Is it a particular habit? A personality trait? Your vocation? There are all kinds of things people wind up being known for. Not all of them, though, are good. The same thing goes for the church. Churches have reputations. Some are known to be contentious and unwelcoming. Some are just known for being large. Some are known because of all the effective kingdom-advancing work they do. Paul commends the church in Rome here for something they were known for. I’ve got to say: theirs isn’t bad. Let’s talk about it and what follows as the letter draws to a close with the next post.

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Digging in Deeper: 1 Timothy 6:10

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“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Fridays on here are fun, but they’re also a challenge. They’re fun because I take time to write about things that are purely interests for me—thus you get lots of reviews of superhero movies and series. It’s also a challenge, though, because unlike the other four days of the week, I don’t necessarily know what I’m going to write about very far ahead of time. I have more than once gotten to Thursday evening actively still wondering what was going to be on tap for the next day. That was the case this week, in fact. At least it was until my sports fanatic son sent me a note about a sports betting ring involving a bunch of college basketball players being broken up this week. We talked about sports betting a few weeks ago, but here we are again because this was one I just couldn’t ignore.

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