Proverbs 13:22-25 English Standard Version 22 A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous. 23 The fallow ground of the poor would yield much food, but it is swept away through injustice. 24 Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him. 25 The righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite, but the belly of the wicked suffers want. Wisdom helps us look beyond ourselves and our current circumstances to make decisions for the future--and not just decisions for ourselves in the future, but for those we love and sometimes even total strangers in the future. "A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children" is another way to say this. This may or may not be about money and wealth, but it definitely is about faith and the culture you develop within your family. Set the example for others in the family to follow. Make it easier and not harder for your children and grandchildren to have a personal relationship with Jesus. The sinner dies and leaves his wealth behind for someone else to inherit and though it takes a long time to happen, we know that the LORD made a promise that the ones that He has declared righteous will inherit the whole earth. Therefore, Solomon is pointing out the foolishness of trying to obtain wealth for evil purposes and assume you can keep it out of God's hands as, eventually, everything the evil people have worked and strived for will be part of the assets divided among the righteous--the people called saints in the New Testament.
God has promised that He would make the earth produce rich and bountiful fruit for His people if they would just be obedient to Him. However, if they disobeyed and practiced idolatry, witchcraft, divination, shed innocent blood, committed sexual sin, and so on, the land would not produce for them. Even what it did produce during these times was stolen or burned up by Israel's enemies that the LORD allowed to have dominion over them when the people of Israel were living in sin. A father who refuses to discipline his children produces spoiled brats that don't know how to live and function, but a good and wise father (including our Father in heaven) disciples the ones he loves. Discipline and abuse are not the same thing, but correction is painful. It's supposed to help us stop making foolish choices and to help us make the wise choice of fearing the LORD and obeying Him. God satisfies the deepest longings of His children (the righteous), but even the simplest needs like food, clothing, and shelter may be taken from those who are wicked by God because this is sometimes part of what He uses in extreme situations to bring them to repentance. That is not to say that bad things only happen to bad people. The rain falls on both the just and the unjust, but God seems to have a way of using His people (the Church) to take care of each other. Comments are closed.
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Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
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