Day 27 - 40 Days of JOY

Dr Jim Brown's TruNorth Devotional
40 Days of JOY
Day  27 | RIGHTEOUS JOY
RIGHTEOUS JOY

Proverbs 10:28
“The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing.”
(NIV)

Proverbs 10 is an easy-to-understand chapter where nearly every verse is sort of like a “two-step.” Step one says something uplifting pertaining to the righteous and then – two – something discouraging to the unrighteous. It reminds me of Psalm 1 where the entire psalm compares the way of the righteous and the way of the unrighteous.

Here in this verse, the author, Solomon, is still teaching wisdom to his son. Fortunately for ALL of us, this timeless wisdom is available for our benefit too. (2 Timothy 3:16 – “For all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for reproof, correction and training in righteousness.”)
 
The Amplified Bible puts this Proverbs 10:28 like this this:
“The HOPE of the righteous (those of honorable character and integrity) is JOY, but the expectation of the wicked (those who oppose God and ignore His wisdom) comes to nothing.”
 
Let me use an analogy and ask a question: In which camp are you? “Camp Righteous” or “Camp Unrighteous”? Into which camp does GOD see you? (HINT: if you are born-again, you have membership and a “key card” to Camp Righteous… though many Believers aren’t attending it regularly.)

Throughout Proverbs, Solomon is appealing to his son to do life God’s way. And the LORD makes it clear that “the prospect of the righteous is JOY.”
 
JOY – simchah in Hebrew –can be translated as gladness, delight, happiness, celebration, or joy.
Contrast that with “the hopes of the wicked come to nothing.”
 
Which do you want?

Have you noticed that the Amplified identifies the “righteous” as “those of honorable character and integrity.” Ponder what that means and ask the Lord to help you STEP IT UP, if you need to.

Prayer: LORD, I desire to be a part of the first group. I have accepted Jesus as my LORD and Savior, but if I’m honest, I could do better at living righteously. Help me LORD, so that I can experience the fullness of JOY that you want me to have. Amen.