Why some people are black holes

by Aug 26, 2021Christian living, Devotional, Wisdom0 comments

Whoever is wicked covets the spoil of evildoers, but the root of the righteous bears fruit.” – Prov 12:12

I’m sure you’ve seen the sad people who seem to have minds for nothing but accounting. They’re always sizing other people up, doing the mental math, calculating, dividing, nodding and measuring, all for the purpose of comparison. Truth be told, we’re all those people, unless God does something in our hearts. The contrast in this Proverb is between the wicked and the righteous person. That’s a status that only Jesus changes when you trust Him.

The righteous person has a root. That root is a living, growing, thriving organism, one that is continually bearing fruit. The root is a picture of the Holy Spirit, working in those who belong to God, to produce and display a work or a product which is not only beautiful and healthy, but something that actually benefits others. That’s what a righteous person looks like, from the outside. The fruit is the manifestation, the outward completed effect of the life of God, growing inside you.

The wicked person also has an outward, manifestation and effect from his life. It’s coveting. He looks, he wants, he craves. Interestingly, there’s no counterpart, no contrast to the root of the righteous found in the wicked. What we find in the wicked is… nothing. It’s an absence, a nothingness. Instead of seeing perhaps some malformed root growing in the wicked, or some different organism, what we discover is a great black hole. Into that hole flows the coveting. He needs a ceaseless supply of fuel which feeds a bottomless blackness. The wicked person can do nothing except look around for something he can throw into his gaping chasm of energy depletion, only to find that thing disappears as fast as he throws it in there. The hole remains.

It’s not as if people apart from Jesus don’t have anything. Many times their lives are drenched with the marks of success and prosperity. But they can’t see those things. All they can do is look around, and covet. It’s a horrible existence, where there’s nothing living inside, but they still have enough werewithal to be able to look around at things others have, particularly the ill-gotten gain of evil people, and think those things will bring life into the black hole.

A life tied to Jesus, on the other hand, superabounds. Jesus calls out to whoever is thirsty, to come to Him and drink. When he drinks, then that person will himself become a fountain of living water. (Jn 7:38) When your life is connected to Christ, not only do you get your needs met and your life sustained, but you yourself become a source of life. You become a root that grows up and matures until you are bearing fruit that other people can enjoy. The life that Christ gives to us is not a one time affair. Nor is it a trickling, mournfully beeping life support system. A life lived for and surrendered to Jesus begins to flourish, thick and wide. Far from looking around hungrily to sustain your own appetites, the life that you have fills, then overflows, bringing life everywhere you go.

Read More 

The people who say just the right thing

The people who say just the right thing

“The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.” - Proverbs 15:28 I have a mentor who always knows exactly what to say. Sometimes it’s a word of encouragement. Sometimes it’s a question. Sometimes he challenges me...

Hard work pays

Hard work pays

“Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.” – Proverbs 14:4 There’s an adage that if you want to find someone to do a job, look for the busiest people. The underlying principle is that the people who have the...

How to avoid being heart sick

How to avoid being heart sick

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” – Prov 13:12 It’s pretty much the same feeling for me every January. Either the Cowboys narrowly miss the playoffs, or they stumble their way down through a playoff elimination game...

Substance over semblance

Substance over semblance

“Better to be lowly and have a servant than to play the great man and lack bread.” – Proverbs 12:9 Credit card debt is one of the most sadistic inventions of the past hundred years. People can now pay for luxury they can’t afford like never before. That’s not the only...

Leave a comment.

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *