W I C K E D   S C H E M E S

Proverbs 6:16-18

Do you remember hearing about some of the outrageous recruiting violations of recent years?  How about the academic cheating at some institutions?  Who dreams up that stuff?  Why do they do such things?

Such scheming is another of the things God hates as we read in Proverbs chapter 6 and verses 16 through 18, “There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes…”

The proverb says it’s the heart that drives these schemes.  Your heart contains your passions, your affections and emotions that can sometimes override your mind.  To devise a scheme is to conceive a plot, to carefully plan a course of action.  A wicked scheme is one that illicitly profits from another’s loss, it seeks to injure others, to cheat or defraud.  Nasty stuff, huh?  No wonder the Lord hates these.

Let’s choose purity.  Rather than devising wicked schemes, let’s plot how to encourage and uplift one another.  Rather than planning to cheat or steal, let’s consider how we may embellish our teammates and coaches.  Guard your heart and check your motives and you’ll keep your heart turned toward purity.  Compete with purity and passion today.

Bible Reading Plan:
I Timothy 6:1-10
Proverbs 9
Nehemiah 1-2