Proverbs 12:3
"A man will not be established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous will not be moved"
What an encouraging insight. It seems in our day and age that any business can go out of business; that no one's pension is secure; that no one's marriage is safe; that even one's convictions can come under assault.
But this proverb declares that one never really built a lasting enterprise on the violation of God's law or basic selfishness. Understand that wickedness is living outside of the Ten Commandments. Solomon is stating a truth that many do not think about: You may go outside of God's moral boundary structure to establish your life, but it will not lead to much for your family, your legacy, and the society as a whole. The gaining by wickedness is a short-term proposition.
All of us would like our lives to have a lasting impact and count for something way past when we are alive. This is possible when your life is built on righteousness. This is how you build a lasting legacy. It is not quick nor necessarily fancy, but it is an unmovable root. You bless generations when you begin today to be righteous.
Too often we do not think about what we are doing to ourselves ten years from now; our children or grandchildren twenty years from now; or society thirty-plus years from now. But we need to do this kind of thinking. When anyone voluntarily lives within the boundary structure of the Ten Commandments, they begin at that point to establish a righteous root and develop a legacy.
It is your decision. Are you going to start a legacy today by living by God's grace righteously or are you going to continue making the same selfish choices that you have been making – living largely only for yourself at the present time. Only thinking about today is a fool's choice. Be righteous.
Until tomorrow,
Gil Stieglitz