Proverbs 10:2 Keep Your Treasures Without Profit!

Proverbs in 365 Devotions For more go to braggingonjesus.com Proverbs 10:2 Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death. Keep Your Treasures Without Profit! Robin Aylor Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit... This almost seems to contradict itself... I mean if you gained treasures didn’t you profit? Let’s try to get a handle on what Solomon is saying... First, if we save money by falsifying taxes; if we take advantage of the poor and unlearned; even if we accept a praise under false pretense or that we don’t deserve... we are accepting some kind of treasure by wickedness. The truth is… wickedness is a non-profit organization... And that does not mean we should donate to it. But it is just a bad career choice... we probably have all know evil people who are rich and might disagree with this verse... but wickedness always ends in the worst kind of poverty. So... what are the treasures of wickedness which do not profit? These are the treasures of the world that are not used to glorify God but rather they become a god to us. They will make us slaves to them.... they will become our passions... they will ruin our life. For one thing this person who has used others to increase his riches will likely be hated and despised by not only those he used but many who see his ways. And toward others he will be bitter, greedy and envious. His stress level will possibly cause him health issues. Good and honest relationships will not come easy. He will be paranoid for good reason concerning others who want his money. I don't call that a profitable life.

Look, at these crossroads we are all tempted to think wicked dealings will help keep us secure. When our future looks grim or the present seems bleak we are enticed to cheat as our best alternative. That would be our worst choice possible. Wickedness does not give us stability or profitability in any way. 
Did you ever consider that this very world is held together by Jesus? That includes our jobs, finances, family, our minds our health and everything we know including our future.

Here's what Colossians says: 1:16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 
Actually there is a poverty much worse than any physical safety or stability or social ills we might encounter in life. And that is to be bankrupt by being separated from the greatest treasure in the Universe for eternity. That treasure is the person of Jesus Christ who died the death we deserve and defeated it for us as well… for all who will have faith to hope in him. 
Yes, in him all things hold together my friend, including dominions and authorities both visible and invisible. Let us trust the Lord only and not our eyes or even our deceitful heart, but practically following after righteousness and knowing that it will be his righteousness in Jesus that profits you unto eternal life.