Have you ever been guilty by association? The crowd you were spending time with got caught and your name got mentioned and even though you weren’t the one to do it, you were deemed guilty?
The book of Proverbs lays the ground work to never be caught in that situation. Here it is:
1. Follow the way of good people.
2. Keep to the righteous path.
Because: 1. The upright will inherit the land 2. And those with integrity will remain in it
But: 1. The wicked will be cut off from the land 2. The treacherous uprooted
Do you see the word picture playing out before us in these scriptures? Follow the righteous and you will inherit blessings, and continue to live right and you will continue to inherit blessings. Follow the foolish and wicked and you will miss these blessings.
These are the principles of Proverbs.
Principles are not promises. Good Christians have endured terrible things for the cause of Christ. It is hard to say they experienced blessings when you look at it through human eyes. But blesssings and “inheriting the land” don’t always come here on earth. I dare say when this world is behind us and heaven is under our feet that we will realize just how foolish we were to have thought this place so wonderful and its blessings so big.
So let’s walk with the righteous. Find the people who live according to God’s standard, his words and his ways. Follow them. The blessing may just be in knowing them here on earth, hearing their stories and learning to live by the example they set before us.
Can you think of someone you can look up to for that example? Can you be that example in someone else’s life?
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