God Wants Us to Live According to His Ways, Not Man’s – (Proverbs 11:15-16)

Daily Bible Study
These two verses offer balance and contrast, as they provide wisdom and guidance from God. They give us insight into the world we live in as well as help us to understand how people think and feel. In one case we have the man who rashly, in foolishness makes himself a pledge for a stranger he does not know. And because of that foolishness, he places himself at risk of loss. Whereas the man who does not behave this way brings additional security to himself. And in the second example, we see a generous woman who shows wisdom through her love and concern for others.

Through her grace and generosity she retains honor to herself from those she knows. And finally we have the ruthless man who through wickedness retains riches. We should understand these are examples of behavior God is giving us and we should not mistake these passages as a suggestion to behave wickedly to gain riches! Rather, once again, God is showing us the futility of greed, rash behavior and wickedness in our lives. As followers of Christ, we are not to live according to the world; but instead we are to live through faith. Following the Lord and His guidance in our lives.