Proverbs 12:3

Life is full of change. Little is fixed and stable. Change can be disruptive and fearful. But godly men have deep roots to secure their family tree for the future. Wicked living is popular, but it will not work for long, since God will destroy such men and their families.

The lesson is simple: godly men and their families will outlast the wicked and theirs. It may not seem so for a time, but it will soon be true. God and Solomon gave you a rule as true as gravity, and they repeated it for emphasis (Pr 2:21-22; 10:25,30; 12:19; 24:3).

Every man, woman, and family wants to be settled and successful. They want to be securely planted and prosperous into the future. They want to increase and improve over time. But wickedness of any kind, continued in, will cause a person or family to decay and disappear. Only godliness can preserve and establish a man or family permanently.

Solomon saw it firsthand. Israel’s first king was Saul of Benjamin. Though a giant among men, with the nation behind him, and successful in war, God ripped the kingdom from him for disobedience and gave it to David of Judah. Saul and his family, even the princely Jonathan, disappeared forever. What about David’s family? His Son Jesus sits on David’s throne today, 3000 years after David died! Grasp this proverb and rejoice in it.

What is the outlook for you and your family? If there is sin in either, the Lord will root one or both out and destroy it. The righteous Lord blesses and honors righteousness, but He will be froward and terrible to the froward (Ps 18:20-26). The choice is yours, and it is a choice you make each day. What is your future? Your choices today determine it.

Abraham and Lot made choices. Lot chose financial advantage over holiness by pitching his tent toward Sodom. Abraham chose peace and the leftovers. But what happened? Lot lost everything and ended up in a cave with two profane and pregnant daughters; Abraham ended up the rich father of Israel and Jesus Christ. What a difference!

Eli was Israel’s high priest. His family could have been priests forever. But he would not stop his perverse sons. What did the Lord say? “For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not” (I Sam 3:13; 2:27-36; 3:1-18). If you are not a proactive and strong father to command your family and enforce godliness, you are going down.

David was the neglected eighth son, but the Lord rooted King Saul out and established David and his sons as the royal dynasty in Israel. His Son sits on the throne of the universe today. God said to David, “And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever” (II Sam 7:16).

David wrote, “I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found” (Ps 37:35-36). Alexander the Great thought he was invincible, but he died at 32; in a few years every relative and descendant was dead. God rooted him out of the earth. Joseph Kennedy imagined a powerful political dynasty for his family. Where is it today?

The wicked do estate planning, but God will destroy them. The righteous seem weak, but God will preserve his house and seed forever. Do you believe this law of life? “Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD. His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies” (Ps 112:6-8).