Proverbs 10:16_

The wages of the righteous is life, but the earnings of the wicked are sin and death. ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭10:16‬ ‭NIV 

Rotherham: The labor of the righteous leads to life, the increase of the lawless to sin.

Wages is a word meaning: labor, reward, or work. Something gained by intentionally working. Whereas earnings or increase is a Hebrew word meaning: fruit, gain, increase, or revenue. Something gained as a result. Wages and labor are contrasted with results. One is the cause, the other is the effect. One comes from planning, choices, and hopeful expectancy. The other comes as a consequence. If the lawless or wicked knew the deadly results of their behavior, would they have continued to invest in activities that would turn out so bad?

The good person does good work. Earning wages originates from my sense of responsibility and obligation to provide the necessities for living: food, shelter, clothing, and other provisions. Taking this thought further, righteous living produces a different sort of wage which results in true life, one that is eternal. Solomon’s point is that being intentional, understanding what I want and what it takes to get it, is something I may count on. But for those who are wrapped in their own world, values, and pursuits, oblivious to outcomes and where they are headed, they too will receive something, but it will be quite unexpected. All of life, big and little, is wrapped in the foundational choices for life or death. It sounds dramatic, yet it is true.

Although Solomon connects work with life, the one who is willing to meet their obligations will also recognize there is no payment one may tender for salvation, or eternal life. It is a gift. The labor of the Righteous One payed for and earned my life. Yet, it’s incredible to think that believing in His gift, is my “wage” God credits it to me as righteousness. My Father does the work, I receive the benefit.

The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭3:8‬ ‭NIV

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Luke‬ ‭6:35‬ ‭NIV