Pro 24:1  Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them.
Pro 24:2  For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief.
Pro 24:3  Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:
Pro 24:4  And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches. 

— Proverbs 24: 1-4

If you have ever read the book of Proverbs, you will be accustomed to the words and style of its composition. It is written in a manner, such that the reader can immediately think about an idea and understand the right thing to do against the wrong thing to do.

I know with 100% certainty that at, at least one point in life, each of us has looked at people in the neighborhood or on television; seen or heard about the awful things they have done in their lives; see them with a visible level of success that is greater than your own – and then you wonder! 

You wonder why a person who commits evil acts is more successful! You wonder if you could do the evil acts yourself! You wonder if it would all be worth it!  If we are completely honest with ourselves, our heart and mind is twisted in knots problem solving this perceived form of imbalance and injustice.  Thankfully, we have the Word of God written down in the Holy Bible to take away this tension and provide us with the actions that God wants us to take. 

First things first – the bad stuff and what we shouldn’t do.  Verses 1 & 2 state that we should not be envious of evil men and we shouldn’t desire to be with them either.  Why?  Verse 2 tells us that it is because these evil men study destruction (remember John 10:10 – the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy) and their lips (WORDS) talk mischief (not the total truth, lies, gossip) in order to get what they want, all the while making people and the world worse off.  If a person envies to be in the position of an evil man, it means there are more worse people than there were before, and evil doesn’t care about being more evil to the next evil person.  The end result is a life full of evil and chaos and separation from God.  That means death (Romans 6:23 – For the wages of sin is death…) 

Thankfully, God gives us His way, which is full of life and strong foundations.  It is written in verses 3 & 4 that a house is built on wisdom (which begins with the fear of God), is established with understanding (growth and strong foundations), and knowledge fills the house with precious and pleasant riches.  So if we choose to do things God’s ways, we will be better than fine – we will have pleasant riches.  Evil people don’t get to enjoy pleasant riches because they are always looking over their shoulder waiting for the next evil person to try and take away their riches.  That is what happens when a person is evil and creates lots of enemies. 

Lesson today – stick to God’s actions for us – for they are filled with peace, love, righteousness, and pleasant riches.  We certainly will be better off with Him.