Proverbs 10:9 “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely,
but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out”
The other day my father was going to paint the floors in his business, and because I use the place for some personal vehicle maintenance after hours, I thought it would be a cool thing to stop by and help out. “Need help?”…Sure! My son Matthew works there, so he was asked to help. My son and father spent the day before sanding all the floors, so they were ready for paint. I looked over the paint supplies he had and there was only one roller with a pole handle. My son grabbed that and starts out in the back. Looks like I get the brush. I said, “Hold up; we have to cut some things in before you go at it and roller us right into a corner.” So I crawled back into this place that only construction guys have seen; it’s under a stairway back a long shelved out hallway in a storeroom. This spot is where boxes of antifreeze are stored. I don’t even think my father has been in that place. Spider webs, dust on the walls, painting slop everywhere, but the floor was clean as it could be. So in the visible parts I did some great cut in lines where they needed to be and when I got to the part that no one sees, I paused. There are going to be boxes and supplies in front of all the attempted artwork I was about to do. I was lying on my side and not so comfortable. I could have been sloppy just like the old paint that’s there and ‘get’er done’... or… <big pause> “Lord, beside doing a perfect job with this, what would you do?” The next thing I thought of was “Walk in Integrity”. It was that little whisper. Do just as good a job back here as out there where everyone sees. With that thought I started to cut-in the edges like they should be.
I could have done anything that day, but the thing I remember most was not that I was even there, but that “I walked in the path of integrity” when the temptation to do otherwise was there. Another building block in the foundation of my life. As I’m writing this, I’m reminded of the Matthew 7:24-27 verses that discuss what happens when a man builds his house on the rock verses building his house on the sand. Notice the similarity with Proverbs 10:9? Rock vs sand, security vs exposure, stability vs destruction. And in a neat implication, it’s a building process.
Is our journey through this life providing building blocks for eternity’s sake? Will whatever we are doing stand the storms of life? Are we building on the Rock?
Back to the painting story…then my son goes back in that hole and paints the floor. What he didn’t see was a “who cares sloppy mess”. He saw “a walk in integrity “ ( I didn’t see that coming at all ).
Thank you Lord for planting those verses in my heart and giving me direction.
—Brian Rainey