Walking with the Wise #111: Day by Day

“No one is established by wickedness,


but the root of the righteous will never be moved.”
—Proverbs 12:3

Time and time again, the Bible presents two types of life—those that are built according to God’s Word, and those that are not. One life is unshakeable, able to endure the storms of life. This life is also portrayed as difficult and filled with trials, but it is also seen as rewarding in the long run. However, the other life—the godless, selfish, hedonistic, or wicked life is entirely opposite. It appears easy, but results in despair and destruction.

Day in and day out, we face a choice—to live our life for Christ, or to live it for self and sin. If we are to live our life for Christ, then we must pick up our cross and carry it daily, as Jesus said:

“If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me”—Luke 9:37.

We die to self. We consider ourselves dead to sin (cf. Romans 6:11) by applying Jesus’ death on the cross as our own. By faith in Him, we enter into a relationship with Him, by which God appropriates Jesus’ death as ours and His resurrection as our as well. This is why Paul could write,

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me”—Galatians 2:20.

We live a different life, the life of the Son of God within us. This is the life that cannot be moved, the one that is found in and with Christ. We are not established by living lives of self-indulgent pleasure, but of righteousness that is found by our faith in Him. And while the proverb speaks of a righteous life found through righteous behavior before the death of Christ, those who have trusted in Christ have appropriated His righteousness as their own by faith. And now, we truly and surely will never be moved.

May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who enabled us to be participants in the crucifixion and resurrection of His Son, enable us to experience the fullness of the life of the Son of God, for the wonder of God’s glory and the daily increase of our joy. Amen.