Payment (Proverbs 10:16)

Anything that anyone does in this life has a price tag attached to it. It either leads to life or death. For instance we can see that the drinking of alcoholic beverages will eventually lead to death as well as smoking and other things of the like. But living a more godly lifestyle extends the life of man, because he is not wreaking havoc on his body.

"The earnings of the righteous - the upright in right standing with god - lead to life; but the profit of the wicked leads further to sin." Proverbs 10:16, Amplified

The righteous man heaps upon himself a payment of life. Do not misunderstand me please. We all know that there are Christians who have died from cancer or in different tragedies. My father gave his life to the Lord and lived a righteous life, but he still died from liver failure on Christmas Day. I, as a Christian, have the opportunity to blame God for this, or to understand that my father received his final paycheck. The Bible does not lie. Life, as we know it, does not need to be solely on this plane of existence. Life extends for beyond this world into the eternal with out Lord. My father is living that life, that abundant and eternal life that was promised to him when he accepted the Lord.

However, the wicked ear a different wage. In fact the Bible here calls it a profit. It is interesting that the word profit is used. We generally associate profit with the positive. A business is considered successful if it can bring about a profit. In essence, however, the idea of profit is "receiving more than what was put in". It would be like finding a hidden treasure at a garage sale buying it for a small price, investing yourself into that item n=by refurbishing it, then turning around and selling it for a higher price. (Again this is profit in a positive aspect.) But a man can invest himself in sin so that he is able to sin more. The profit of sin is a lie. "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the world, and loses his own soul?" (Matthew 16:26, NKJV) It is a rhetorical question that the Lord presented to His disciples. The answer is obvious, nothing. The profit is nothing.

Don not be fooled. As we go about living our lives we are storing up for ourselves wages. There will be a final payment due at the time of our death. We are given a choice as to how we will be payed. It is like going to a currency exchange and you give your life to the teller. he smiles at you and gives you the exchange rate for your righteousness. But if the wicked goes to the same teller, he would find that his life was worth nothing, it had no value. Value is defined by cost. My life is valuable because it cost the life of Jesus. What is your life worth?