August 10

Aug 10 - Today from Proverbs 10 we look at verse 2
"Ill-gotten treasures are of no value, but righteousness delivers from death."

The Bible. A complex narrative of God's plan and purpose for man; man's original failure; God's mercy and plan of redemption; and the climax of the narrative is His redemptive work through Jesus Christ. It is a beautiful and compelling narrative, and can only be truly understood through the revealing work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is by far the central focus of the Biblical narrative - from Genesis to Revelation. All other themes of the Bible are lacking substance without this single central focus. Our proverb for today could be placed in the Biblical theme of values. To fully understand the wisdom of this proverb, we are to apply Biblical definition to values. Values are to be based on eternal things.
Values are choices, and they are lived out in our lives each day in our behavior. Values asks the question, "What is of greater importance?" Once the choice is made, behavior follows. Jesus puts it quite simply in His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:21 where He says, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
The lesson in today's proverb is quite simple once we understand the issue of values. Before sin entered the human race, values were measured in serving in relationships with others. If others prospered, all benefited. Paul teaches this restored concept in his discourse on Body Life; "If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it." (1 Cor. 12:26). After sin entered, self became the primary focus of man (the basis of the world system). Self then determined the value of life in the corrupted measure of money and influence over others. Relationships became pretty much self-serving. If there was no perceived added value to self in a relationship, then self placed little or no value on that relationship. "Am I my brother's keeper?" asked Cain of God. (Genesis 4:9).
At a critical point in the narrative, God gave moral law that would instill a behavior that would reflect proper values until grace came through Jesus Christ. (Galatians 3:23-25). But, the law could not deliver from death. There may have been some behavior modification, but there was no real change in values because the treasures of the heart were still based on the values of this world system. "If I keep the law, I will live forever in Paradise." (sic). Some behavior change, but still self-serving motives. Jesus taught that there must be a greater change than that of behavior modification. We needed a new heart and He came that we may experience that change. "The Kingdom of God is near," cried John the Baptist as he heralded the coming ministry of our Lord Jesus. "You must be born-again if you want to see and enter the Kingdom of God," said Jesus to Nicodemas - a man learned in the law. Something brand-new must take place, and the One who was to usher in the Kingdom was here.
Ill-gotten treasures. They are the things based on self-serving worldly values. Not just money - but things like popularity, promotion, and public esteem. Or perhaps values lie in completely different areas like solitude, care-free living, uncomplicated life, and few responsibilities. In both categories we discover that the values are self-centered and are of no value in the greater purposes of God and His Kingdom. On the one hand, the subjects are ambitious and use their relationships to achieve their own self-serving goals. On the other hand, the subjects do not take any responsibility for their neighbor's well-being and avoid unwanted relationships all together. These values can even be found in the same person at different stages in one's life. One can spend one's 'productive years' pursuing ambitious values of accumulating money, and then one's latter years pursuing solitude in enjoying what the ambitious years produced. (Sounds like the American dream - doesn't it?) All the while, there has been little or no real value accomplished in God's Kingdom.
Righteousness. Righteousness comes by believing God and then responding with appropriate behavior. "Abraham believed God, and is was credited to him as righteousness." (Gen. 15:6, Rom. 4:3 & Gal. 3:6). In the narrative, it was through Abraham that the covenant of God's promise that "all nations will be blessed through you" came about. Abraham wasn't a perfect man - he had many faults and the narrative of the Bible is very honest in revealing them. But - Abraham believed God and grew to set his values accordingly. The promised blessing to Abraham ultimately came in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in Him, we are righteous, and we are called to believe Him and to follow Him in restoring and developing relationships for no greater purpose than to serve and to bless others. The real treasures in this world are the eternal things - the Word of God and the souls of people. That is where Jesus invested His time, talent and treasures - and His very life. That is where Jesus calls us to invest ourselves. When we invest ourselves in God's Word and in the lives of others, there our hearts will be also.
Cain, the life-taker asked, "Am I my brother's keeper?"
Jesus, the life-giver answered, "Love your neighbor as your self."