Overcoming Pablum

(Pro 11:6 KJV)  The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them: but transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness.

I am convinced that the Holy Spirit can use almost anything to teach us.  I say this because this month I am slogging through a modern “translation”, the New Century Version, which simplifies the language so much that it becomes a red delicious instead of the Pink Lady that God intended it to be and paraphrases with abandon.  This verse reads like this,

“Doing what is right brings freedom to honest people.
But those who are not trustworthy will be caught in their own desires.”

As I was reading this I was struck with an insight into the freedom that Christ brings.  It is not the political liberty that we associate with the word but the joy that comes from not being slaves to our own sinful nature.  I know that is not what it says.  There is a storehouse of difference between the promise of deliverance and a generic freedom.  “Righteousness” (6666) is much more than just “doing what is right”.  This translation is pablum.  I have no memory of what pablum is like.  It may have some nutrition.  At the same time I don’t think it compares to old fashioned oatmeal with a generous dash of cinnamon.  

So?  God can teach us even when the “scholars” of the world want to manage the message.  All it takes is a questing heart and a willing mind.  Praise and adoration.  The Holy Spirit strikes again.