Proverbs Daily Devotional: Day 21
“He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.”
Proverbs 21:21
In the classic tale “The Wizard of Oz,” Dorothy and her companions are very clear on what they hope to receive from this wonderful wizard. Dorothy wants to go home. The tin man wants a heart. The Lion wants courage. And the scarecrow wants a brain. It is interesting to note that they all find what they are looking for only when they share the common goal of helping Dorothy to reach hers. The tin man doesn’t go off pursuing a heart, nor the lion courage, nor the scarecrow a brain. They set off to help Dorothy, putting their own desires aside in that greater pursuit. At the end of the story, in helping Dorothy, they discover that they also gained exactly what each of them was looking for.
The journey is often more important than the destination. The destination here in this Proverb is life, prosperity and honor. But that is not the daily direction of the journey. The daily direction of the journey is the pursuit of righteousness and love. When we properly pursue those things, life, prosperity and honor become byproducts as well. The same is true of happiness. If we pursue happiness as our end goal, it becomes difficult if not impossible to find. However, if we pursue a life of meaning and purpose and love, serving God and serving others, we often find that we are happy as well. Are you living your life in pursuit of the right things, and are you giving enough attention to the journey?
—Pastor Jeff