March 15. The Wicked Will Perish.

Read Psalm 37:12-20. ¹²The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him, ¹³but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming. ¹⁴The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose way is upright; ¹⁵their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken. ¹⁶Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked. ¹⁷For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous. ¹⁸The Lord knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will remain forever; ¹⁹they are not put to shame in evil times; in the days of famine they have abundance. ²⁰But the wicked will perish; the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures; they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.

Just as the Psalms began, here again we have two classifications of person: righteous and wicked. Almost every verse names one of the other. Make no mistake there are only two kinds of people on earth. Only two paths. Only two futures. Only two responses from God: perish or remain forever.

Here’s where if our hope was in anything other than Christ we might implore you to strive to make sure you are on team righteousness and not team wicked. Which path are you on? Are you living that blameless life? You better make sure (or else).

But it is Christ alone that assures our blameless state. And when we consider that Jesus alone is our only way from wicked to righteous, from enemy to friend, it is only then that we can embrace verse 16. It is a far better thing to have Christ and nothing else, than to have everything this world offers but miss out on Jesus. Do you believe this? Do you live as though this is actually true?

To live is Christ is to live from spiritual abundance. There is no limit to his love and grace. All is ours in him.

You: Are you righteous or wicked?

You in Christ: Do you see your righteousness coming from Christ alone and nothing else?

Christ in you: What might your day look like if you fully believed that you had all you need in Christ?

Pray: Jesus, I’d rather have you than anything or everything else. Help me to live as though this is true in my heart. Amen.