True or false

DEVOTION

PROVERB

TRUE OR FALSE

Prov 21:29

29 A wicked man puts up a bold front, but an upright man gives thought to his ways

NIV

It is one thing to try to make people think we are alright, it is entirely another thing to know we are alright. Is this saying those who put on a façade are wicked? To put on a strong face, to make believe to be strong, the life is great, all as it should be, is the meaning of the Hebrew word translated bold. Having this type of outward continence all the while feeling a sense of emptiness, of lacking of true happiness, as well as an actual sense of guilt. But not knowing how to relieve the pain that causes the suffering within may be the real shame in that type of life. We know they have had the opportunity to know how to relieve the pain, but they have suppressed it by their wicked ways. Does the wicked person actually love their wicked ways? Why then would they put in a bold face? Why would they want to hide the real self? Maybe they do not want people to think of them as wicked? Perhaps that is the truth in the bold face, the false front, the façade. Yet we know there is an emptiness within them, they are missing the joy of the lord. They are missing the confidence we believers have in our eternal state. We have given thought to the true meaning of life, our real purpose for living. We may not have known that at the moment of our accepting Christ in our lives. There are many reasons people come to Christ. Some to escape hell, some to have their guilt of sin taken away. Some to find the answers. It is difficult to determine why every believer came to Jesus. Maybe some just grew up in a believing home and that is all they ever knew. But the point here is that once we accept Jesus, we give thought to how we live. We investigate the word of God, we study his ways, his plan for our lives, and his purpose for our lives. We consider, we ponder, and we give thought to how we live so as to be the person he intends us to be. This would also imply that we do not put on a bold face. This would imply we live with or in transparency, that is people get what they see, when the see us. We do not build those false fronts. This is why we can say when one member of the body is in pain we all are and when one member rejoices we all do. How can we than unless we are transparent, at least for the most part. It still appears many believers hide their sins from one another. Do we put on a bold face at church? Do we act all upright and holy, that we are great Christians, doing and serving and being all Godly like, all the while hiding secret sins? Is that being wicked rather than upright? Sure it may not be needed to expose every aspect to our sin to the whole congregation, but the fact is we do need to admit we are not perfect people, nor will we ever be totally free of sin in this body. Our righteousness is in Christ, we are hidden in him, he is our strong tower, our fortress, our refuge, our ever present help. This is truly given thought to who we are and who God is. No pretending to be upright, we have the confidence we are upright in the sight of God because of our faith in Christ. While one person lives false, we live true.