Is it possible to think of following God as a path to ruin and destruction? This might seem almost sacrilegious, considering that the Lord is the Creator and sustainer of life and the God of Grace. But consider the following verse from Proverbs.

The way of the Lord is a refuge for the blameless,
    but it is the ruin of those who do evil.

Proverbs 10:29

God is certainly willing to destroy that which is worthy of destruction. We get further insight into this “ruin” that befalls evil people when they encounter the way of the Lord in John’s Gospel after Nicodemus approaches Jesus.

Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

John 3:20-21

Ah, so the destruction indeed happens to the evil person but what is left behind is a person whose evil has been destroyed! No one is blameless to begin with, but upon adhering to the way of the Lord, we are like Abram and our faith is counted as righteousness (Romans 4:3-5, James 2:20-24).

If you let God ruin your worldly life, he will give you an eternal one in its place.

Ethan Kirl