Living With Understanding

Many years ago I had a dog named Rufus. He was a mutt, but he was a very nice pet. We lived way out in the country in Texas, so Rufus could run loose. One day he came home with a dead chicken in his mouth. I was upset, because he had killed someone's chicken, but I did not know how to break him from doing that, so I told him the truth very plainly. I told Rufus that the wages of sin is death, and if he kept killing chickens, he would surely die. I was right. My neighbor shot him dead one day, when he mistook him for a coyote. My neighbor came and apologized, but I stopped him. I told him that Rufus did the wrong thing, and I had told him he would get killed. It was sad, but true.

This is God's law. He hates sin, so He must punish it. If you sin, there will be consequences that could even lead to death. The person who has understanding departs from evil. (Job 28:28) Those who don't have understanding stay as close to evil as possible. They think they can still do well, but they are wrong. The best path is the one that leads far away from sin.

Tomorrow, I intend to read Job 33-35.