Proverbs 11:18-19

The wicked person earns deceitful wages,
but the one who sows righteousness reaps a genuine reward.
True righteousness leads to life,
but the one who pursues evil pursues it to his own death.

There’s a famous episode of the Cosby show, where Bill is teaching Theo about money. It’s actually in the Pilot for the show. Theo has just brought home a bad report card, and Bill is going to talk to him about it. Bill wants Theo to get his grades up so he can move out of the house and have his own life. However, Theo has decided that he’s going to be a regular person and not go to college.

So the discussion ensues.

“How much do you think you can make a week  as a regular person?”

“$250.00”

“We’ll make it $300 per week, $1200 per month.

Bill goes through all the expenses to help Theo see that $1200 a month doesn’t go very far. In the end, Theo is thinking he’s got his dad beat, when Bill asks if Theo is planning on having a girlfriend – to which Theo replies “You bet.” Poof, there goes the rest of his money.

If you’ve ever felt like you were trying to live your life with monopoly money, you have no idea. For someone who has been trying to live rightly, even though funds may be tight, there is hope. As you are sowing righteousness along with your money, you will inevitably end up reaping a reward. You’re working the ground, preparing it for the planting. So when you do plant, it’s just a matter of time before things start to grow.

When you haven’t been living rightly, you aren’t sowing anything. In fact, you’re lacing the ground with salt which will make it impossible for anything to grow. You may feel like you have a lot of money tucked away in places, but the truth of the matter is – it’s monopoly money. It’s not real money. Wickedness planted = wickedness sowed. Or at best, you reap nothing. Yes, the best you can hope to reap from a life of wickedness is nothing. If you are planting wickedness and you get to the end of your life and haven’t reaped wickedness in return, you should feel lucky.

But, when you plant righteousness, you are planting for  great future. It may start with just a few seeds, but they will grow and mature. When they do, they will produce more seeds. As long as you keep doing the work of living the proverbious life, every time you have more seeds to plant, you will be able to count on reaping the harvest.

True righteousness leads to life, but the one who pursues evil pursues it to his own death.