Proverbs 10: 2

Today’s verse contrasts wickedness with righteousness:


Proverbs 10: 2 (NKJV)

2 Treasures of wickedness profit nothing,

But righteousness delivers from death.

Many people in today’s world look at monetary wealth, a high class car, prestige, good looks, a high paying job, a “perfect” family and/or marriage, etc. as treasures to be sought after. None of these things are, in themselves evil, but when they are put first in a person’s life and become “idols” to that person, then they become sin.

ANYTHING that is put above what God would want, and/or that keep our eyes focused on something OTHER than Him, is an idol, and worshipping “idols” is considered by God to be “wickedness.” The Online Dictionary defines an “idol” as: 1. an object of excessive devotion or admiration; 2. an image of a “god” used as an object of worship.

These kinds of “treasures” are only temporal and of this world. We will only live in this world for a short time in relation to the amount of time we will spend in heaven or in hell. WE have the choice, while on this earth, to choose one of those two places to spend eternity. We can’t take any of these earthly things with us, but we WILL take the RESULTS of the path we choose, to the place we have chosen to live after this life. EITHER we walk with a loving God (following and seeking His ways), or we follow some “idol” that will mold, rot, or rust.

The Bible says that a person is “righteous” when he/she chooses to put God first and follow Him and His ways in his/her life. “Righteous” is defined in the Online Dictionary as: 1. Morally upright; without guilt or sin.

God promises a life in heaven, with Him, to those that choose to follow a life of moral “uprightness” and that turn away from sin. We, as humans, could never do this on our own… we will ALWAYS fall short. THAT is why Jesus paid for our sinful lives by giving HIS sin-LESS life. When we REPENT of our sins (tell God we are sorry we didn’t do what He wanted us to), ask Him into our lives and hearts, and then strive (with the Holy Spirit’s help that He gives us at that point) to follow Him, then we are SEEN as being “righteous” by God.

He knows, then, that we want to follow HIM and not our own ways. We DIE to ourselves and put HIM first. When this happens, we are “born again” with a new spirit within us, and that, eventually “delivers from death,” as the end of this verse says. I think that this is the “second death” spoken of in Revelation 2:11 (“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.”) Our body MAY die (depending on if Christ comes first) but our new Spirit that is following God, will never die.