Bent

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

BENT

Prov 17:11

11 An evil man is bent only on rebellion; a merciless official will be sent against him.

NIV

We could simply see this in the human context and not worry as we are not want we would consider evil. Yet there is something to be learned for all believers. We know that in some sense all who rebel against God would be consider evil, so then which came first, evil or rebellion? Whichever, the point here is that those who rebel against God, those who are evil will not meet a loving, forgiving, merciful God at the end of time. They will meet a merciless official, a judge that has already pass sentence upon them, the sentence of death. That is harsh, but it is the truth. Accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is not accomplished by one who is bent on rebellion. It would seem impossible to be a follower of Christ and be bent on rebellion as it would be to be bent on rebellion and be a follower of Christ. That is like oil and water, they do not go together. Although we know God desires all to be saved, and thus we should share the gospel with all, we have to know some will simply be bent on rebellion and will face him as Judged. We must make sure that we do not say we follow Christ then act in rebellious ways. It might be possible we could do rebellious acts, falling to temptations in our lives. But the key is the condition of our heart. Is it bent on rebellion or bent on following Christ? Failure is not necessarily bent. But we must be careful not to excuse the failure, which could lead to our hearts getting a bent condition in the wrong direction. We need to keep our hearts bent toward God.