The Schemer's Plans

For Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Proverbs 24:8-9

Whoever plans to do evil
will be called a schemer.
The devising of folly is sin,
and the scoffer is an abomination to mankind.

Wickedness is wickedness however it is carried out. But as the law affirms, it is especially repugnant to devise wickedness. Some people "fall" into sin, yielding against their better judgment. But the schemer plans his evil. He uses his ability to reason for the express purpose of causing mischief.

Consider the drug dealer who uses business acumen to run an elaborate, sophisticated business complex. Consider the thief who studies how to carry out a crime with the same meticulous attentiveness as any scholar. There is the businessman who out of greed and ambition uses his talent and expertise to manipulate the system and gain undue advantage over others.

There is a sadness about such persons. For one considers not only the crimes committed, but the good that goes undone that these persons were capable of. What if such schemers used their abilities for good? What all could be done? How much good goes undone?

And then there is the scoffer who is an abomination. Again, the problem is not merely that he ridicules, but that he uses his mental skills to mock rather than for productive good. Scoffing is the lazy man's use of mental wit. Unlike the schemer who turns to wickedness out of ambition, the scoffer turns to destructive ridicule out of lack of ambition. Both live wasted lives.

What are your plans today? To advance your own cause or the cause of Christ? To shoot down the efforts of others or build others up? It is not good to know the plans of your Lord today for you? Whatever exactly they may be, they are for your good.