No Future

For Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Proverbs 24:19-20

Fret not yourself because of evildoers,
and be not envious of the wicked,
for the evil man has no future;
the lamp of the wicked will be put out.

It is proper to concern ourselves with seeing that justice is carried out and that the oppressed are protected. In such a spirit we are to concern ourselves with thwarting the deeds of the wicked. However, we are to carry out our actions with the idea that if we fail, then the wicked have won. It is good to bring a wicked person to justice, but understand that the real justice takes place before the throne of God who rules with perfect knowledge and power.

No one is getting away with anything. The wicked are digging their own graves and sealing their own doom. God sees all; more to the point, God is working out all things for his glory to be displayed in his justice and in his mercy. All persons will receive what he has ordained, and in such a way that all mouths will be silenced at the time of their hearing before the Almighty Judge. And all knees will bow before the King.

Nothing can stop that inevitable conclusion. Certainly no wicked creature can thwart God's purposes. They, who spent their lives mocking their Creator; they who believed they were outwitting the Law will find their "lamps" put out. They have no future, i. e. no future of blessing. They will wish they had no existence, that they had never been born. Keep this in mind the next time you fret over the way the wicked seem to be winning and prospering. And pray for their souls.