The Wicked Flee

Looking back is a bad habit. (Rooster Cogburn. True Grit. 1969)

 

I have never seen the 2010 version of True Grit. I much prefer the John Wayne version. Not that I have anything against Jeff Bridges, I just happen to like the way John Wayne portrayed Rooster Cogburn in the 1969 version of the movie.

However, I have seen the first few seconds of the newer version and I noticed that it opens up with a bit of scripture. Before you see any action from the film, the words, “The wicked flee when no man pursueth,” appear in white against a black screen. The quote is followed by the scripture reference, Proverbs 28:1.

The trouble with this is that it doesn’t finish the quote. The second part of the scripture is, “But the righteous are bold as a lion.” What exactly does this all mean? It means that those who are in the Truth have nothing to fear. However, those who are wicked and bear the guilt of sin, are always looking back to see if someone is on to them. That is not the life Christ intended for us to have.

Last week, a young man, named Jeremiah, had apparently hitched a ride with a trucker. When the driver pulled the semi into the weigh station and got out, Jeremiah stole the truck and drove away in a big hurry. Jeremiah was driving very recklessly with his trailer load of strawberries. However, it was not the strawberries he was interested in. He was running for his life!

Jeremiah eventually crashed the large truck into a Toyota Tacoma, which then struck an SUV and a Mercedes. After that, the young man finally lost control of the semi after crashing into two other vehicles. The truck came to rest on its side and blocked a whole lane of the interstate. Panicked, but still uninjured, Jeremiah jumped into a nearby van and demanded a ride, but the van owner pulled him out of the van. With the help of other bystanders, the van owner held him until the police arrived.

Why was Jeremiah in such a rush? He wasn’t trying to steal the truck or the strawberries. He was fleeing! When the police questioned him, he told them that he stole the truck because zombies were chasing him and he needed to get out of town. Police were in the process of determining if Jeremiah was under the influence of drugs.

I think it’s pretty clear that zombies were not chasing the man. To most of us, that sounds crazy to think that zombies were after him, but, for whatever reason, they seemed real to Jeremiah. However, the reality is that there was no one chasing him. He only thought there was.

Many times our guilty conscious makes us do strange things. We get edgy. We seem nervous. We don’t want people asking too much about our business. Sometimes, we may even try to run away from our problems.

God never designed us to carry a load of guilt. The fact is, that God already knows what you have done, even if you have been successful in hiding it. King David committed a number of sinful acts during the whole issue with Bathsheba. Lust, covetousness, adultery, lying and murder were all involved.

On the outside, David seemed to continue living as if nothing had happened. However, on the inside, he knew that what he had done was wrong. David may have thought that God had not seen his sin, had forgotten or was ignoring it. However, God sent Nathan, the prophet, to David to inform him that God did see and know. Not only did God know about the sin, but Nathan informed David that God was going to hold David accountable for it.

God sees and knows all. The good news is that He loves you anyway! Stop running from Him and run to Him. He is there waiting to lift the burden of your guilt and give you a life of blessing.

Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and He knows everything. Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. (1 John 3:19-21)