Bill Fitzhenry's Thoughts For Today…

Reading through the 31 chapters of Proverbs each month can give us an understanding of how to serve God.

Proverbs 11:31 3, 6, 8, 9, 21, 23, 28 ESV

31 If the righteous is repaid on earth,
how much more the wicked and the sinner!

A person is identified by his character. An evil person should be recognized as evil, and an upright person as good. This is not always so, but it is in general and it should be without exception.

The Scriptures go a step further than this. They assure the believer that there is recognition and reward for character in this life.

Chapter 11:31 expresses by the “if” not a condition but a certainty. This has the full support of I Peter 4:17-19. But Peter adds to this the certainty of a future judgment.

In the passages noted the benefits of upright conduct in daily living are identified. Chapter 11:3-5 presents three primary benefits an upright person can expect.

A. 11:3 The character of the upright is by virtue of its influence a determinative of the choices made. These choices are beneficial to his spiritual growth and personal relationships.

B. 11:4 Righteousness as a test of character has an effect on the judgment of the person falsely accused if an offence. Ordinarily, and most often, righteousness as a habit of life will provide deliverance at the time of need.

C. 11:15 The righteous person is not devious. His conduct is consistently upright. He is dependable, honest, and diligent in all he undertakes to do.

The conclusion of this chapter which defines and encourages upright conduct in verse 31 assures the reader that this is time bound instructions. The promise of justification at God’s bar of judgment and a future in glory are never to be forgotten. But neither are they to be substituted for the responsibility to walk daily in the path of the just.