“The wicked earns deceptive wages, but he who sows righteousness gets a true reward.” (Proverbs 11:16-19, NASB)

A pastor friend once shared a childhood memory of a Bible verse competition. He poured his heart into it, fueled by the promise of a grand prize. But when he finally took first place, all he received was a small, simple badge. The sting of disappointment was so sharp that, for a long time afterward, he couldn’t bring himself to open his Bible at all. This story came to mind as I read today’s reading. The promises of blessings in the world often turn out to be temporary “badges” we’ll end up discarding, but God’s rewards are blessings not only here and now but for all eternity. I was reminded to sharpen my focus: to live for the eternal rather than the temporal rewards. It says in today’s passage,

“A gracious woman attains honor, and violent men attain riches. The merciful man does himself good, but the cruel man does himself harm. The wicked earns deceptive wages, but he who sows righteousness gets a true reward. He who is steadfast in righteousness will attain to life, and he who pursues evil will bring about his own death.”

Solomon explains that everyone who works hard in life receives “wages” and “rewards.” Even those considered “violent,” “cruel,” or “wicked” receive what they strive for. Yet, he is quick to point out that their rewards are ultimately misleading, temporary, and vanish with death. Verse 18 reminds us, “The wicked earns deceptive wages, but he who sows righteousness gets a true reward.”

To me, the story my friend told highlighted two points from this verse. The first lesson I learned was that the world would offer prizes and rewards for my work, but only to disappoint me when I achieved them. Our culture—fueled by books, movies, TV shows, and other media—tries to sell a blueprint for success: that if I pursue wealth, status, and influence, I will succeed. It promises that once I “arrive,” I will unlock a life of security and joy. But the reality is often a bait-and-switch. Many reach the top only to find an empty life, trapped in a cycle where the hunger for “more” never quite fills the void of “not enough.” It overpromises and underdelivers its promises.

The greatest bait-and-switch promise of reward is the promise of the pleasures of sin. Yet, Romans 6:23 warns us, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Truly, sin tries to promote itself as rewarding, pleasure-giving, and successful, but it only offers deceptive wages. This is how the devil tempted Eve with the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 3:6 says, “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.” They fell for the bait-and-switch, plunging the human race into a life of condemnation. If not for God’s love, we would have no hope of life in eternity. Through God’s mercy and grace, He offers us a way out of sin and death through His Son. He offers us a true reward now and forever in Christ.

The second lesson I learned was that we often work for things we can get our hands on, but we don’t see the meaningful rewards that our eyes can’t see. You see, even though my friend’s anger was legit, he failed to realize that he himself is also to blame. He immersed himself in the contest for the promise of a physical prize but didn’t recognize the true reward of memorizing the Bible. He was so busy memorizing the Bible that he didn’t realize he was memorizing God’s words. He saw the Bible memory as a means to an end rather than as the reward itself. It is a lesson to every Christian who sees Bible reading, prayer, attending worship, and small-group meetings as means to an end. Why do you read the Bible? Why do you pray? Why do you sing praises? If you are doing them for any other reason than getting closer to God, then you are missing the point. In the end, you will be disappointed, like my friend, with the “badge” prize. You would have missed out on the true rewards of the righteous.

• What do you think Solomon meant by the wicked earning “deceptive wages?”
• What exactly are “true rewards” the righteous reap?