The wicked earns deceptive wages, but one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward. Whoever is steadfast in righteousness will live, but he who pursues evil will die. — Proverbs 11:18-19

These two verses represent a chiastic structure. This means two parts of a verse mirror each other. And authors will do this to emphasize contrast in a process between two approaches. This pattern occurs all over the Proverbs. But here, Solomon illustrates two types of men by showing us two motivations, two behaviors, and two ends. For the wicked, the process is selfish motivation, deceptive action, with short-term gains leading to death. For the righteous, the process is godly motivation, dedicated action, with long-term gains leading to life. It's a pretty simple comparison.

But I think we men get tripped up right at the start of the process, don't we? We believe a lie or a series of lies. Three that are inferred from this text. First, we believe the lie that we can get to the reward faster. Second, as a result, we think we can outsmart others. Third, if or when we succeed with our plan, we believe that no one will ever know we took a shortcut. And sometimes, all these beliefs cycle very fast through our mind. And if we do it one time this way and get away with it, then we will do it again, and then again, and again. And thus, we have trained ourselves to be wicked. And sometimes, the only way to untrain this is a really bad reward. We must encounter the pain of sin.

So today, I want to encourage you to do something. Something that I think will help train you in godliness as a man, husband, father, and leader. If, at any point today, you are tempted to take a shortcut. A shortcut of any kind. Don't take it. Just stop for a minute. Allow godly reason to catch up with your old training. And then once godly reason catches up, then act. But only act if the reward is godly. And then you are on your way to retraining your mind, heart, and motivation to live like those who are wise.

ASK THIS: What shortcut do you want to take today? Name it.

DO THIS: Retrain your mind, actions, and motives with godly rewards.

PRAY THIS: God, retrain my wayward motives.

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