Proverbs 13:6 – Righteousness guards the man of integrity, but wickedness overthrows the sinner. (NIV)

When I was serving in the navy, I worked on electronics, so I had access to electric components. One of those components was a capacitor, a device that stores up electricity. I used to charge up these capacitors, and then set them on the workbench in our shop with a large sign posted right above them that said, "Do not touch." Even with this sign posted, people would still touch them and pick them up. When they did so, they got a rude awakening, because in closing the circuit with their hands the devices would discharge and give them a shock. Had they obeyed what the sign had said, they would not have been shocked. As you can imagine, it only took one shock for them to obey the sign after that!

Although obeying the sign sounds easy enough, it was not easy to do. It is the same in our Christian lives. All we have to do is listen to God and obey him, yet we do not always do that. In the verse today we are told that righteousness will guard a man, while wickedness will overthrow a sinner. If we listen to God's word and obey it, we will be guarded from evil, but if we do not obey God's word then our choice of evil will lead us down that path.

I know that, sometimes in my life, I have come to the point of getting a shock for not obeying, and this has brought my attention to what I was doing. In taking a shock, I learned.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, you have given us your word to help us through our lives, and yet we do not always listen. We go against your word and we pay the consequences for doing that. Help us not to just listen to your word, but to obey your word and live a righteous life. In Jesus' name. Amen.

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