612_The path that leaves a blessing (Proverbs 10:6-13) Proverbs 10:6-13 Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. 7 The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot. 8 The wise of heart will receive commandments, but a babbling fool will come to ruin. 9 Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out. 10 Whoever winks the eye causes trouble, and a babbling fool will come to ruin. 11 The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. 12 Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses. 13 On the lips of him who has understanding, wisdom is found, but a rod is for the back of him who lacks sense. 14 The wise lay up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool brings ruin near. Imagine walking through an old cemetery on a quiet afternoon. Most of the gravestones are weathered; some names are barely legible, others completely erased by time. Yet here and there, a name still stands out clearly, not because the stone is newer, but because people continue to speak of that life with gratitude. Stories are told. Lessons are remembered. The person is gone, but their influence remains alive. Long before cemeteries existed, the writer of Proverbs observed this simple truth and captured it in a single line: “The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.” Some lives leave behind a fragrance; others leave behind decay. The difference, Proverbs insists, is not primarily about circumstances or success, but about the heart and the way it chooses to walk. The book of Proverbs repeatedly sets before us two paths: the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked. These are not abstract philosophical categories; they are lived realities, visible in speech, choices, relationships, and ultimately in outcomes. At the center of this contrast lies the heart. Proverbs 27:19 says, “As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man.” What we truly are is eventually mirrored in how we live. Jesus echoed this wisdom centuries later when He said, “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Our words, actions, and habits are not accidents; they flow from what we store within. That is why Scripture consistently calls us to examine the heart. Righteousness, in the biblical sense, is first a posture of the heart before it ever becomes visible behavior. It is a desire to do what is right and pleasing in the sight of God. Yet the Bible is also realistic, even blunt, about the human heart. Jeremiah reminds us that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” Left to itself, the heart is not a reliable guide. But the same passage
