The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the unfaithful are trapped
by evil desires. ~Proverbs 11:6
A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all. Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned. ~Psalm 34:19 & 21
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! ~2 Corinthians 5:17
In our proverb for today, we are asked to consider the contrast between the righteous and the unfaithful. We’re not talking about evil people here, but unfaithful people, who are unfaithful to what? What comes to mind immediately for me is the third soil in the parable of the four soils, recounted by Jesus in Matthew, Mark and Luke. “The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the one who hears the Word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.” (Matthew 13:22) That has a similarity I thought with our proverb “but the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires.”
Like the third soil, the unfaithful here are in a struggle. They, kind of want to do the right thing, but they also want to do what they want. That’s why God’s Word says they are “trapped.” They aren’t fully committed yet to the righteous life that God desires.
With the fourth soil, it can be said that their righteousness delivers them because they have crossed the line. They are fully committed. They have set their boundaries and they have let go of the snares that so easily entangle. Hanging on to the old ways isn’t a struggle because they just want to be on fire and fruitful for God. The third soil isn’t there yet. They are still struggling to let go of what they know and trust God enough to step into His unknown.
When you think about it, before we came to Christ, there was no struggle. All we had was a sinful nature and we knew no other choice. The struggle within us is actually a good sign of life. Paul talks a lot about even his own struggle against his sinful nature in Romans 7: “What a retched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to sin.”
I’m not saying here that Paul would still be considered a third soil type. What I am saying is that struggling against our sinful nature is a real battle. The fourth soil is focused on conquering because fourth soil people know that victory over the sinful nature is worth it. Third soil people aren’t so convinced yet, thus, they truly struggle because they are not yet mature enough in Christ to hand it all over to Him. But as I learn more of the truth, the truth will set me more and more free.
Before we were a new creation in Christ, we only knew one way and that way, no matter how good we thought we were compared to others, deserved death. The unfaithful are still in the struggle of having the desire to please themselves. That’s how we all lived before Jesus.
James also talks about our struggle with desire. “Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” (James 1:14-15) “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?” (James 4:1) It’s the desires that we need to hand over to God as we grow. Then they will no longer ensnare us.
Instead, He will replace the desires that we are accustomed too, from our sinful nature with His desires for righteousness that will deliver us from sin. That is, by Grace He gives us the righteousness of Christ. “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desire of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4) Your desire will be for more of Him which is a desire He longs to fill always.
Pray: God Your Grace is so amazing! It is the righteousness of Christ that delivers me from the traps of sinful desires. It is Your Spirit, oh Lord, that sets me free to make better choices and plants new desires in my heart. Thank You Lord! May I be filled with an unquenchable desire to share this good news with others, so that they may also be set free. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Song: Draw Me Close to You
A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all. Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned. ~Psalm 34:19 & 21
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! ~2 Corinthians 5:17
In our proverb for today, we are asked to consider the contrast between the righteous and the unfaithful. We’re not talking about evil people here, but unfaithful people, who are unfaithful to what? What comes to mind immediately for me is the third soil in the parable of the four soils, recounted by Jesus in Matthew, Mark and Luke. “The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the one who hears the Word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.” (Matthew 13:22) That has a similarity I thought with our proverb “but the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires.”
Like the third soil, the unfaithful here are in a struggle. They, kind of want to do the right thing, but they also want to do what they want. That’s why God’s Word says they are “trapped.” They aren’t fully committed yet to the righteous life that God desires.
With the fourth soil, it can be said that their righteousness delivers them because they have crossed the line. They are fully committed. They have set their boundaries and they have let go of the snares that so easily entangle. Hanging on to the old ways isn’t a struggle because they just want to be on fire and fruitful for God. The third soil isn’t there yet. They are still struggling to let go of what they know and trust God enough to step into His unknown.
When you think about it, before we came to Christ, there was no struggle. All we had was a sinful nature and we knew no other choice. The struggle within us is actually a good sign of life. Paul talks a lot about even his own struggle against his sinful nature in Romans 7: “What a retched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to sin.”
I’m not saying here that Paul would still be considered a third soil type. What I am saying is that struggling against our sinful nature is a real battle. The fourth soil is focused on conquering because fourth soil people know that victory over the sinful nature is worth it. Third soil people aren’t so convinced yet, thus, they truly struggle because they are not yet mature enough in Christ to hand it all over to Him. But as I learn more of the truth, the truth will set me more and more free.
Before we were a new creation in Christ, we only knew one way and that way, no matter how good we thought we were compared to others, deserved death. The unfaithful are still in the struggle of having the desire to please themselves. That’s how we all lived before Jesus.
James also talks about our struggle with desire. “Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” (James 1:14-15) “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?” (James 4:1) It’s the desires that we need to hand over to God as we grow. Then they will no longer ensnare us.
Instead, He will replace the desires that we are accustomed too, from our sinful nature with His desires for righteousness that will deliver us from sin. That is, by Grace He gives us the righteousness of Christ. “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desire of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4) Your desire will be for more of Him which is a desire He longs to fill always.
Pray: God Your Grace is so amazing! It is the righteousness of Christ that delivers me from the traps of sinful desires. It is Your Spirit, oh Lord, that sets me free to make better choices and plants new desires in my heart. Thank You Lord! May I be filled with an unquenchable desire to share this good news with others, so that they may also be set free. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Song: Draw Me Close to You
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