Reading your Bible for today October 2

October 2: Proverbs 25:26-28

KJV Key Verse: Proverbs 25:26
26 A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring.

Devotion:
The wisdom behind each of these three verses speak volumes by themselves, but when linked together give us even more insight into how God would have us lead our lives. First the warning about a righteous person falling into sin... The more we walk with God, the more our lives become more acceptable to Him and the more each sin is going to look worse than it did before. A good person turning around and doing something bad looks so much worse than a bad person doing the same thing. One is accepted in our eyes and the other not. In God's eyes we may all look as bad as each other, but in everyone else's eyes, we do not. People will look up at a good person as a sound example in their community and if that person should be found out doing something bad, so many more people will be affected by that event.

Too much of a good thing can actually be the thing which lets us down! When we get involved with something good, there always seems to be something tempting in the wings, something to tempt us away from what we are doing and enjoy things just a little bit too much. When we get caught up in things like this, we are the ones who are seeking our own glory rather than aiming at doing things which will glorify God. We should be living for God and attributing everything we do to His power and glory. After all, He is the one who can do anything and we are the ones given power to do anything when we do it in His name.

When we are at the stage when we can no longer control our anger or keep in our outbursts when tempted, we are like a house without walls. Anything and everyone will come in and disturb you when you want to find a bit of peace. Everything will get to you; you then look for trouble because you expect it. Everything becomes a prompt for you to explode. What a long way down this is from a righteous man, but can you now see this path to destruction?

Points to Ponder:
What things get you down?

How often do you attribute things to God rather than yourself?