THINK TOGETHER.
Have you ever been trapped in or by something?
READ TOGETHER
Proverbs 26:27. Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling.
Solomon is painting two pictures here of the hateful person (we talked about hate yesterday). In the first picture the hateful person digs a pit so that her enemy will fall into it, but then she falls into her own pit. In the second picture the hateful person is rolling a heavy stone up a hill to crush his enemy, but then the heavy stone rolls back on top of himself, crushing him instead of the person he hates.
Now I doubt any of us have dug any pits lately or tried to roll heavy stones up hills so that we can hurt the people that we hate. But maybe we have tried to do other things to hurt people. Can you think of anything you’ve done recently to hurt someone that you are angry at? Did it hurt them or did it hurt you?
The big idea behind this proverb is that God doesn’t let people get away with hateful things. At times it might seem like he does, but he doesn’t. Sometimes his justice comes, not when he digs the pit, but when the person falls into their own pit. Sometimes God lets people hurt themselves with their own hate.
This principle is found all over the Bible stories. The wicked men that wanted Daniel in the lion’s den end up in the lion’s den themselves. In the book of Esther, wicked Haman wanted to kill all the Jews in Persia but ends up dead himself. But sometimes, when the haters repent and change their ways, there is grace. Joseph forgave his evil brothers for sending him to Egypt as a slave. Joseph didn’t turn them into slaves like he could have, he forgave them because he trusted God.
Probably the biggest example of someone falling into their own pit or being crushed by their own stone is Satan. Satan worked so hard to get Jesus on that cross and into the tomb. A large stone was eve rolled in front of it. But Satan’s trap for Jesus was really his own trap. The cross killed Jesus for three days, but it will destroy Satan forever and ever! That stone over Jesus’ grave rolled over the Devil.
Because of Jesus we can always trust God’s justice on those who hate.
With Jesus we don’t ever have to try to hurt others, instead we can love others.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Sing or listen to O Praise the Name together. Think about that resurrection day!
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, help me trust your love and justice like Joseph did and forgive. Amen.
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