Proverbs 14:2

       “He who walks in his uprightness fears the Lord, But he who is perverse in his ways despises Him.” What does it mean to “fear the Lord”? Departing from evil (Proverbs 2:7), “A wise man fears and departs from evil” (Proverbs 14:16), and “by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil” (Proverbs 16:6), and “The highway of the upright is to depart from evil” (Proverbs 16:17). We are called to “abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:22), not just some that we think are the worst forms, but every form of evil from bad thinking, lying, all the way to the worst thing you ever heard of. You cannot walk in uprightness if you haven’t confessed your sins and repented of them. Do we know what it means to be perverse in our ways? It means to depart or become crooked. When you depart from the Word and prayer, you become crooked, and those that do, despise Him. “Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His”, and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity’” (2 Timothy 2:19) (Italics mine). I was talking to someone and I told them, “I heard it said that when we get to heaven there will be a line of people whose lives we touch as Christians, but I often wondered how many won’t be there because I wasn’t walking in uprightness”. Ponder that statement for a moment. Are you walking in uprightness?