Text: Prov 13:4-6 ESV 4 The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. 5 The righteous hates falsehood, but the wicked brings shame and disgrace. 6 Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless, but sin overthrows the wicked. - Prov 13:4-6 ESV SIN OVERTHROWS THE WICKED An idle person often daydreams about what they want or what they wish to accomplish. Yet they never attain those goals because they are too lazy to work for them. It is a sad truth. This is depicted by the ‘Juan Tamad’ story. As Prov 20:4 says; “The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing.” However, a diligent person is much more likely to achieve his goals, for he works hard to get them. God designs that man should be creative and productive at the beginning. He gave Adam the responsibility to work. "The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it." [Gen 2:15] Looking at another angle, the wicked only results in shame and disgrace at the end. He is hypocritical. He pretends to believe one thing while doing something else. In contrast, godly people have a natural distaste for lies and deception. Jesus derided the hypocritical religious leaders during his day. He instructed, "And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others" (Mat 6:16). He warned, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves" (Mat 7:15). He who lives in “righteousness”, God has promised to guard his way to keep it blameless. "Righteousness" means a sincere seeking of God's will and obedience to His commands (Prov 1:7). Those who follow godliness and sound wisdom have a much better chance of happiness and success (Prov 3:6; 12:28). Joseph and Daniel are examples of people living in ‘integrity’. In contrast, their false accusers were overthrown. Indeed, their sin overthrew them. Moses said, “Be sure your sin will find you out”[Num 32:23] It reveals the sin concealed. The nature of sin is such that, whether or not others discover your sin, your sin will “discover you.” You cannot run from the consequences, can you? Sin carries within itself the power to pay the sinner back, and sin’s payback is hell. Thus, don’t even think about toying with sin. It cannot be tamed, outrun, or shaken off. No matter how you feel safe you think you are. If you are a sinner, your sin will find you out someday, surely. The only cure for sin is having forgiveness through Christ. ------------------------- Visit and FOLLOW Gospel Light Filipino on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram