Just Two Questions

Proverbs 11:1-7

  

I was so blessed to work in sales for the 3M Company, and its goal was to bring excellence in its product offering.  For those of us in sales, often we were told two things would get us fired, lying and stealing.  And most in our sales group dealt with the end user in a way that made that clear, we were not often the cheaper product, but our products met the facts and standards that our company claimed they met.

That is not the standard of many large and small companies today, they deal in haft truths, and deception, and spin, we call that lies.  I received a letter from a significant provider of TV service, and they gave me a $19.95 per month price for that service for a year, but that was very deceptive, after exploring all the facts the basic package was not $19.95 per month for the first year, but $45.00 per month.  I want to report they did not earn my business, nor will they in the future. 

Proverbs has much to say about such a Company, “A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight.”  And in Deuteronomy 25:16, we have this word;  ^“ For the Lord, your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly.”  I wonder if they believe they have a winning model, I never wanted God to detest me?

Proverbs 11:2-7 deals with a person with integrity, and one that always looks to deceptive ways of getting their needs met.  “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom. The integrity of the upright guides them,
but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.  Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.  The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight, but the wicked falls by his own wickedness. The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the treacherous are taken captive by their lust.  When the wicked dies, his hope will perish, and the expectation of wealth perishes too.”

 Pride is a close sister to arrogance, and Scripture states that God hates both, for when we grasp our sinful nature and God’s mercy and grace, what do any of us have to be proud of?  Pride puffs up and gives us a feeling of being better than others.  Verse three has much to say about integrity and how that offers guidance to a person’s life, and the contrast between that and treachery and where they end up.

Verse four has this to tell us; “Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. “   These are words of Jesus; “What profit is gaining the whole world and losing our soul?”  The wise have a fear of the Lord, but not the wicked or the foolish.

Verse five, “The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight, but the wicked falls by his own wickedness.”  This Proverb has a home in our business world, way too often the desire to get ahead, or greed drove salespeople and even managers to lie or make up false reports.  I observed men that lost jobs over falsifying expense reports or trying to fix the wife’s car on Company money.

Verse six should go with verse five for it is the lust for more that brings out the evil that is in the hearts of such people.  “The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the treacherous are taken captive by their lust.”

Verse seven will be the last verse we deal with today; “When the wicked dies, his hope will perish, and the expectation of wealth perishes too.”  One of the big lies going around is that the one with the most toys wins, but it seems no one is willing to ask what the prize is?  What if the prize is being the leader of the world, but when facing a Holy God, He will ask just two questions; “What did you do with my Son the Christ?  Did you bow down and worship Him did you obey Him?  How one answers those two questions will determine their eternal fate. 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice