Proverbs 10:2

Ill-gotten treasures have no lasting value, but righteousness delivers from death.

Proverbs 20:17

Food gained by fraud tastes sweet, but one ends up with a mouth full of gravel.

We live in a society where for many the pursuit of happiness is the highest goal of life. Happiness translates into “stuff”, i.e., money, cars, clothes, houses, jobs, someone else’s girlfriend/boyfriend or spouse, etc. And since our mindset is one where “the end justifies the means”, our pursuit involves getting stuff any way we can. We end up cheating, lying, stealing, and engaging in unethical behavior to get it. Then we have the nerve to justify it:

• Well, it was just a “white lie”.
• They will never miss it.
• You gotta do what you gotta do.
• It’s not my fault they didn’t know how to keep it.
• They would probably do the same thing I did; I just did it first.
• Nobody will ever know.

When we focus on just the short-term, and get what we want when we want it, we soon develop a lifestyle of unethical behavior.

But the Bible warns us of the long-term effects of this type of lifestyle. I like the Amplified Bible’s translation of these passages:

“Treasures of wickedness and ill-gotten gains do not profit, but righteousness and moral integrity in daily life rescues from death. (Proverbs 10:2)

Food gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel [just as sin may be sweet at first, but later its consequences bring despair].” (Proverbs 20:17)

Have you been focusing only on the short-term lately? Have the “sweet” things you’ve acquired starting to taste like gravel? Maybe it’s time to change your ways, and live a life of righteousness.