Walking with the Wise #75: Unmoveable

“The righteous will never be removed,

but the wicked will not dwell in the land.”
—Proverbs 10:30

In Judaism, one of the key elements of identity was seen in their monotheism. They were a singular people from a single man, Abraham, who were servants of the one true God who had promised for them a land in which to dwell—Israel. The only surety for them to dwell in the land safely was by living a righteous life. The righteous were assured safety in the land, while the wicked were not.

As followers of Christ, we can see the truth of today’s proverb worked out in the New Testament. As Paul wrote, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”—Romans 8:31. If you are a child of the King, take heart in the fact that nothing can separate you from the love of Christ! As Paul wrote,  

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?”—Romans 8:35. 

And again,

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”—Romans 8:38-39.

Once you have trusted in Christ, nothing can happen to you without God’s allowance. Or as Martin Luther said, “Even the devil is God’s devil.” Man can only kill us, but once our physical body has passed away, we step into an eternal dwelling,

“For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens”—2 Corinthians 5:1.

Living a righteous life is difficult, but it will be rewarded. Not so for those who choose wickedness; for them the only thing that remains is a “fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries”—Hebrews 10:27.

May God enable us to pursue Him wholeheartedly, looking to the day, as Moses did, when the reward will come (cf. Hebrews 11:26). May we live lives fully devoted to Him, knowing that our lives are in His hand and nothing can stop us. Amen.