The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. – Proverbs 4:18

Today’s Scripture Reading (August 18, 2016): Proverbs 4

I just finished reading the novel “Support and Defend,” a book written by Mark Greaney in the Tom Clancy Universe. It has long been my habit to spend my summers reading more relaxing books than I might read the rest of year. And that has usually included novels by people like Tom Clancy and Dean Koontz, among others (although this year I corrected an error in my High School education and included “To Kill a Mockingbird” on my summer reading list – a novel a lot of my friends seemed to have read in school, but it was never included in my high school reading.

But there is a scene in “Support and Defend” where the good guys are chasing the bad guys. In this case, it is a stereotypical American good guys and Russian bad guys, although the Russians are thought by some to be American bad guys (yes, it sometimes gets confusing in the Tom Clancy Universe) and the good guys crash into the bad guys driving both deep into the Panamanian rain forest. And in the rain forest, it is dark. It probably doesn’t help that the sun is just peeking over the horizon. But even with the presence of the vast ball of light in the sky, the leaves of the forest keep what light is available out. And the protagonists of the story are left with a plan of trying to shoot at the spurts of gunfire rather than at bona fide targets. What else can they do when you can’t actually see what is going on. Luckily for the good guys, there are only two of them, so they can keep track of each other and just concentrate on the flashes of light emanating from the guns of the bad guys.

While the idea is perfect for a novel, Proverbs reminds us that this is not the idea behind the path of righteousness. Righteousness is not something that hides in the dark; it is not something that we have to search for under the huge leaves in a rainforest. It is a treasure that we find left out for all to see in the sunlight. Righteousness is never hidden. It never has to be. We want people to know when we are walking in a way that is right.

The righteous don’t have to worry about who sees the way that they are going. It is not something done in secret. In “To Kill a Mockingbird,” it is the description given to Atticus Finch. He was not a person who acted one way in the light and another way behind closed doors. He acted one way, whether it was in the light or the dark. And that was proof of his righteousness.

The righteous have nothing to hide. And they shine brighter and brighter with every step that they take. And that is the way it is supposed to be - so that we can follow in our own righteousness.

    

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Proverbs 5