Today's Reading:
1 Kings 4,5, 2 Chron. 2, Ps. 101, 2 Thess. 3
Note: Be sure to read till the end and also read my PS … (“Personally Speaking”) where I will write personal thoughts on what’s happening today in the world and the Church.
Scripture
“I will sing of your love and justice, to You oh Lord I will sing praise. I will be careful to live a blameless life … I will not look with approval on anything vile…” (Ps. 101: 1-3)
Observation
Today’s reading covers so many great principles that it was hard to choose! Nevertheless, I will explore Psalm 101 because it gives me a balanced glimpse into David’s heart. The first two verses set the foundational context for the rest of the chapter. If we miss these two critical verses, we may misinterpret David and see him as a Rambo or rogue. He was neither. Of course, he was a warrior when battles needed to be fought, but he didn’t let war dictate who he was in peace. Any reader can see that from the way he treated Absalom … it was almost “grace” to the extreme.
However, following the first two verses, David seems angry. He confronts evil head-on, but he is not to be mistaken as a pessimist. He opposes evil but it is not necessarily because he hates. It is because he loves … he so loves and honors what is good, that he seems like a staunch guardian against what is evil. He protects what is good with a dependable steadfastness. The first few verses help us to balance it out and it sets the tone.
There will be two kinds of Christians:
- The ones who love what is good.
- The ones who hate what is evil.
Although they may seem on the surface to pursue the same direction, they approach the holiness of God from completely different angles. They both seem intent on following hard after God, but there are significant differences:
- The one who approaches life as “one who loves what is good” generally has good friends, has harmony in his relationships, and is generally content.
- The one who approaches life as one who “hates what is evil” tends to have fewer friends, has much more disharmony and is generally less than happy in his life and relationships.
Application
Today I shall make a choice. I want to be someone whose life is compelled by a love for what is good. There is evil in the world around us, and even during this season of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are those with influence that are suspect of ulterior agendas. This is symptomatic of last days events. Am I afraid of that? No. The scriptures must be fulfilled, so like Jesus, I choose to keep my eyes on the cross and the redemption of the lost. That remains my highest goal.
It is true that we all have the tendency to see what we are looking for. So if I am looking for evil, I will see evil everywhere. However, if I am looking for good, I will see the moving of the waters, and I will see opportunities for the miraculous everywhere.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, please help me to keep the right focus. So many things are happening at such a rapid pace! But I will have the choice to focus on whatever I choose to. So, I choose to focus on what YOU are doing and not on what the world is doing. I love what YOU are doing. I love what YOU are saying. Surely, I will not be gullible about evil and I will not be ignorant of the devil’s schemes, but I will look to YOU each day.
Right now, as I look out our window, it will be a beautiful day! Thank YOU!
THE ECONOMY IS SLOWLY REOPENING, and for some, it is too soon, but to others, it will not be quick enough. This will cause uprisings, premature decisions, and faulty conclusions. Communities and even families will experience various levels of civil wars. That’s what history tells us.
There will arise the Moses-es, and there will arise false prophets. That is what the Scriptures tell us. There will be the Martin Luther Kings, Jr’s, and there will be the Jim Jones-es of Waco Texas. We will recognize them by their deeds. (I do hope we recognize them sooner than later.). However, we must never lose our love for what is good. That is the foundation of what Revelation calls our “first love.” If we lose that, we have lost much. My prayer and hope remain: that no matter where we find ourselves when this is all over, that we will have found our eternal purpose. I pray that each of us will be in a more intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, that we will continue to love one another, and lean on the Holy Spirit to make wise decisions. This will be what will shape tomorrow’s “new and better normal”
We must not be caught unaware “lest Satan get an advantage over us, for we are not ignorant of his schemes” (2 Cor. 2:11). But as for our focus, love what is good with me, and may we continue to honor Jesus … everywhere and anywhere!
Jesus is our passion
Generosity is our privilege
the Gospel is our purpose
the Bible is our proof.
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