A faithful person will be richly blessed,
    but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.
Proverbs 28:20

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I hate when I open an email or answer a call only to find out it’s a stranger trying to trick me. (Thanks for letting today’s devotional through, by the way.) We swim in spam-infested waters, and it’s hard to find safe harbor these days. Tricksters promising to help us hit the jackpot swirl around like sharks. It’s bad enough when unknown contacts do this, but get-rich-quick schemes and sleazy sales tactics happen everywhere. If you’ve ever been preyed upon by a scammer, solicitor, or sly salesperson, you know what this feels like.

It’s hard to stomach when corrupt people succeed by taking unfaithful shortcuts. This is especially true when the faithful who take the high road appear to lose ground. Proverbs 28:20 is a big promise from God about what the future holds for both groups. Those who leverage deceit and wrongdoing to steal a fortune now will be punished eventually. And anyone who lives out faithfulness with godly integrity will be blessed. In the short and long term, walking God’s way is always the better route.

While we’d prefer to cast stones at spammers, the fact is, every one of us cut corners somewhere in life. We may try to always take the high road, but we let ourselves get tripped up when the pressure is on, the going gets tough, and we can’t see a better way out. Our hearts long for faithfulness, to be totally trustworthy, yet we’re only a step away from being unfaithful at any given moment. I don’t know what that looks like for you, but I’m keenly aware of where I’m tempted to take an unfaithful shortcut to get what I want.

As I digest Proverbs 28:20, I wish it was possible to be a perfectly faithful person, to take the high road not just financially but in every area of life without stumbling. While this is impossible on our own, being saved and led by Christ changes everything. Even as a barrage of unfaithful shortcuts tries to tempt us off course, we can rely on God’s wisdom, strength, and resilience to live out faithfulness one step at a time.

Next Steps   

Ask God to reveal an area where He wants you to become more faithful and more trustworthy. Take the high road with a friend and share where you’re tempted to take an unfaithful shortcut.