The End Of The Wicked Is Emptiness

"Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivers from death." Proverbs 10:2 Why is that so? A man can acquire great wealth through planning and through working out the ways he believes will bring him the most prosperity. But if his gain comes through lies, deception, and wickedness, it is doomed to fail him. This is a principle God has placed in his Word, and it will always end this way. What is acquired through wickedness is doomed to fail. The failure can come in a myriad of ways. What if he is imprisoned for the crimes he committed in his quest to acquire wealth? What does it profit him to stare at four walls for years on end? Some will succeed in not getting caught, yet they have to live with the anger and hatred they have acquired as they made their way and accumulated their wealth through wickedness, because perpetrators of evil have no peace. What if unexpected tragedy falls upon his life? What if he comes down with a terminal illness? Yet the many do not understand this, and the multitudes fall into this trap not realizing that "all that glitters is not gold." At the end of their lives they will find that their gold profits them nothing, and they will be surprised to find that their riches have left them empty. The righteous, on the other hand, is not consumed with the love of wealth. He loves God and spends his energies furthering the Kingdom of God. The result is that the Lord blesses that man with all that he needs: "Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ for after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek FIRST the kingdom of God and his righteousness, AND ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED TO YOU." Matthew 6:31-33 The righteous man may never have riches, but he is promised to have all that he needs. At the end of his life he will have acquired the satisfaction of a life well lived, a purpose realized, and fruit stored up for eternal life. The Lord upholds the righteous, but the wicked have no foundation and their wealth will fail them. One cannot walk in opposition to God and prosper. Eventually the pride, rebellion and self-will of the wicked will be his undoing. "A little that a righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked, for the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous." Psalm 37:16-17 "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor IN VAIN who build it;" Psalm 127:1 Seek first the purposes of the Lord. Let the Lord build your house and it will endure forever. Find out from him what his will and purpose is for your life, and then pursue it. Your needs will be met and "joy unspeakable and full of glory" will accompany you in all that you do. There is no joy like the joy that fills the heart dedicated to the Lord. The wise invest for the future, but Jesus Christ tells us to invest for eternity.

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-21