1 The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.
2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart.
3 To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.
Proverbs 21:1-3
This week we have taken a look at Proverbs 21 and how it calls us to check our heart and motivations. Today, we want to wrap it up with a look at verse 3. But before we do, I cannot stress enough how helpful a daily read of Proverbs is. It is called “wisdom literature” for a reason.
Righteousness / Justice / Sacrifice
To live righteously is to live like Christ. This is the greatest signifier of Christian maturity and a necessity for conversion. Like righteousness, justice can sometimes look upside down compared to our current standard. It is important to remember our Lord who poured out a violent justice on Himself through the cross. An earthly justice would quickly fasten us to that same cross, but a Godly justice takes the scorn of death for a condemned people. It makes sense for us then to have a warped sense of justice for this is truly other-worldly.
When we think of heaven, we think of earning. The more we sacrifice, the more we gain. While this is true in certain venues, it is crucial here to remember the first two verses. Our heart must be motivated by generosity and not a desire to earn the favor of God. Perhaps there is no more insidious of thought which is difficult to shake than the feeling of earning a right standing with God.When we rid ourselves of this shady motivation, we are set free to love a God who loves us so. We are then free to live righteously with His guidance and to understand what exactly justice is.
Seek righteousness
Seek to act justly
Live sacrificially
And this is the heart of the Gospel
Matt simon blog 