A righteous man who falters before the wicked is like a murky spring and a polluted well. Proverbs 25:26
Every once in a while, a person will come across a pond or lake that is filthy. It may have trash in it, or the top is filled with scum. When this occurs, no one wants to be in the pond or have anything to do with its water. It looks and feels disgusting and becomes worthless. This can also occur in wells that are supposed to provide fresh water to those in need of it.
Solomon points out that the righteous man that falls before the wicked will be like a murky spring or polluted well.
The world is focused on causing believers to fall away from God or to choose sin above God’s righteous ways. Sin will be made to appear to pleasing and good, becoming a great temptation for the believer to have to overcome or turn away from. Pressure will also be applied to get the believer to do something that God has said not to do. This faltering before the wicked.
Every time a believer chooses to sin, that person allows darkness and pollution into one’s life and the world sees it. That person is no longer the shining bright light of Jesus that one is called to be in this world.
In the same way that a polluted well becomes worthless and difficult to see through, the believer’s witness is tarnished and polluted. Sin is allowed in, and the believer becomes like the world, rather than being separated unto God–made pure, holy and righteous by the blood of Jesus.
Leaning on Jesus and being led by the Holy Spirit, the believer is to resist temptation to sin, allowing one’s life to become polluted and murky from the sin.
Temptations to sin against God and allow sin in your life will always be there. Jesus has removed your sin and imparted His righteousness into your life, making you pure and holy, clean and a shining light in this dark world. Do not give in and falter before the wicked. Do not give in to the ways of the world, allowing sin in your life, polluting your life and dimming your light for God.
Be who Christ has created you to be and paid the price for you to be–a shining light, pure and holy before God and man.
Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that God will give you strength to resist temptation; that you will see the way out of temptation that God is providing; and that your life will be a shining light, pure and holy before God and this world.
Picture by Yansi Keim on Unsplash
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