Which Life do you want to Experience?

(Prov 18:3 NLT) Doing wrong leads to disgrace, and scandalous behavior brings contempt.

In this series thus far the Lord, through Solomon, has been driving home the importance of developing in His wisdom and He has made it clear that He also expects us to develop character along the way. Yes, the Father wants our heart to develop along with our head.

I would venture to say that developing Godly character is even more important than Godly wisdom, because God can (and will) do more with a person who lacks intelligence, but is upright, than with a person who is exceptionally bright, but morally corrupt.

Your IQ is one thing, but traits like integrity, dignity, honor, loyalty, and respect hold a tremendous amount of weight with God. Back in chapter four Solomon said, “If you love Wisdom and don't reject her, she will watch over you… If you value Wisdom and hold tightly to her, great honors will be yours. It will be like wearing a glorious crown of beautiful flowers” (Proverbs 4:6-9).

Jehovah wants to bless us, but He will not bless mess. If we want to experience His glory, then we must be committed to doing things His way. I say all this to set the stage for our text for this morning, which basically paints a picture of the opposite. While doing good opens the door to God’s glory, doing wrong opens the door to shame.

Another translations of this verse reads: “When a wicked man comes, contempt also comes, and with dishonor comes scorn.” In other words, outward shame and reproach come on the heels of inward wickedness and corruption.

One of my favorite Psalms is Psalm 23. The 23rd Psalm was actually written by Solomon’s father (David). In this Psalm David describes the man who acknowledges Jehovah as Shepherd. David tells us that one of the benefits of following the Good Shepherd is that goodness and mercy will follow/pursue/track you down all the days of your life. Isn’t that awesome? When you walk with God goodness and mercy are never far behind.

However, Solomon tells here that disgrace and dishonor follow the wicked man.
Whenever a wicked man enters his day disgrace and dishonor are never far behind. The question them becomes: which one do you want to be? What do you want following you around? When you step into a room, do you want it to light up or dim down? When you want into an environment, do you want to be salt or scum, a preservative or a parasite? If you are reading Today’s Word then I would assume you desire the former and not the latter. If that is true then you must be committed to doing things God’s way. If you do things God’s way you get Godly results. If you don’t, you won’t, and it will not be God’s fault.

The disgrace Solomon describes here is connected to our actions; it comes as a result of literally “Doing wrong.” That being the case, then the message is clear, the Father wants us to DO RIGHT! Not just talk about it, not just read about it, not just dream about it, but actually DO IT!

So what does this mean to you? It means your actions matter. The type of life you are experiencing and will experience is directly connected to the type of life you are living. If you commit to accepting, applying, and walking in God’s counsel, ever day, then you will have goodness and mercy tracking you down. But if you continually do wrong, knowing it’s wrong, then disgrace and dishonor will track you down and the experience will not be pleasant. Once again, the choice is yours.

Father, I know what type of life I desire to experience. I declare, by faith, that I receive and apply Your counsel and I develop Your character. I do what is right, not what is wrong. I allow Your Word to be the ruler by which I judge every decision. In so doing I am setting the stage for me to walk in The Blessing. As a result of my commitment to You and Your Word, I know that goodness and mercy shall follow, pursue and track me down, all the days of my life. If I still and stumble, goodness and mercy will be right there to pick me up and help me along he way. Thank You Father for helping me to develop my head and my heart and for Your exceptional grace and goodness. You are awesome! In Jesus’ name. Amen!