Proverbs 2:14: Mine is an evil laugh!

[God will deliver you from those] “who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil,”
-Proverbs 2:14

I am constantly amazed at the lengths this generation will go to deny the existence of evil.

We will excuse murderers and rapists because something traumatic happened to them as children, and therefore it’s not their fault. We will try to better understand terrorists so we will know what their situations are. Tyrants are asked to speak at American universities and are given standing ovations.

No longer are the Hitlers or today condemned for their actions. Actually, the only people who seem to be uniformly condemned in this country are corrupt CEOs. It’s good we at least find that offensive, but why we think that playing around with stocks is worse than killing people, I really can’t say.

Of course, when it comes right down to it, we all believe in right and wrong. We can preach all we want that everything is relative and that there is no evil, but if someone punches us in the mouth, we’re going to get upset. Why? Because we were wronged.

The world is filled with people who do evil and like it. From the dictator who takes perverse pleasure in his power to the man who likes to cheat on his wife, there is evil in this world.

And it’s not limited to them. How many of us like to get away with a lie, or would willingly cheat a neighbor in a business deal? “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5).

The machinations of evil men are all about us, sometimes even in ourselves. What are we to do?

We are to follow after God. His Spirit is promised to help protect us, and He gives life eternal for those who would follow, so not even the efforts of a tyrant or murderer can destroy us.

Yes, we have all committed evil, and in doing that we have fallen short of God’s glory. We are unworthy of life. But when Jesus came to earth, He died on the Cross even though He did not deserve it. When He did this, He paid the price we owe in our evilness. He took on our sin, and in exchange He gives us His righteousness.

If we repent of all of those evil ways and believe that He is the Son of God, He will give us life. Accept His sacrifice and ask for His forgiveness. Turn away from evil and to the only one who is worthy.