January 21

Jan 21 - Today from Proverbs 21 we look at verse 8

"The way of the guilty is devious, but the conduct of the innocent is upright."

Some proverbs seem so obvious at first that one wonders why they were even written down. This is one of them. In fact, The Living Bible states the obvious in its modern paraphrase:
"A man is known by his actions. An evil man lives an evil life; a good man lives a godly life."
See what I mean? But as we stop and think on a little deeper level, we see that there is more than first meets the eye here. I believe there is a lesson in discernment for us. As we go through life, we are to be discerning as to which people we allow to influence us. None of us wants to believe that we are influenced by 'evil' people. The problem is, evil people do not wear a sign around their neck which says, "I AM EVIL". The Bible says that even Satan masquerades as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14). Evil can be very subtle. To help us here, it might be good to define evil as a noun. The dictionary says, "Something that causes harm, misfortune, suffering or destruction." One of the two most common words for evil in the Hebrew agrees with this definition. The other most popular term relates to rotting - a degenerative term. Even with these definitions, it is somewhat difficult to discern evil in its early and deceptive stages at times. So this proverb turns the focus on the actors rather than the actions. Are the actions going to turn out to be productive - or destructive in the long run?
Again, Proverbs most often deals with the rule of life - not the exceptions. So, as a rule, when you are unsure of whether an idea or activity is proper, you should observe the character of the person who is trying to influence you rather than the idea or activity the person is attempting to get you to embrace. If it is a person of integrity, his conduct will be consistently 'upright'. The picture in the Hebrew here is 'straight'. We use it in our modern vernacular; "You can trust him. He will be straight with you." That is said of a man who has a solid reputation as being up front with you, regardless of the consequences. Another example is when one notices the Doctor hedging the diagnosis and the patient says, "Tell it to me straight Doc." The patient isn't interested in a dance of deception, even though the Doctor is trying to spare their feelings. Upright people deal straight, and they leave a legacy. Look at the trail they leave in life. Do people of integrity who have known them for a good period of time speak well of them? Have they made relationships, partnerships and fellowships better off because of their active influence? It's a good bet that you can trust the influence this person can be in your life.
On the other hand, you have the devious character. In the Hebrew, 'devious' is just the opposite of 'straight'. It means to turn about, to change, to pervert. It gives one the picture of one weaving and dodging, unable or unwilling to give a clear and concise answer. Devious people can be charming or they wouldn't be much of an influence. But they also leave a legacy. If you want to know whether you should follow their influence, look at the trails they leave in life. Is there a trail of harm, misfortune and destruction in previous relationships, partnerships or fellowships in which they were an active influence? You can bet that if you allow yourself to be influenced by this type, you will end up getting hurt, or even worse, you will end up being an agent of 'rotting' in your own spheres of influence.
There's more to this Proverb than first meets the eye. God wants us to be discerning as to what kinds of ‘influencers’ we take up with.