06/07/2019
If you have proclaimed your love for God, and Jesus Christ, then don’t make peace with evil, and don’t come to terms with sin. There is no room in your life for a peaceful coexistence with the very thing that desires to destroy you.
“O you who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.”
Psalms 97:10 ESV
Allowing a woman that you once loved, and for whom you are still harboring an attraction, to come into your house and live in a spare bedroom will bring nothing but strife to the relationship you have with your wife... it will damage, and possibly ruin your marriage, and it will tempt you to sin. This is common sense because, if we are honest with ourselves we will admit that we are both inclined to sin, and jealous creatures by nature. There is a saying that goes like this: “familiarity breeds contempt”, it means that the more we know about a person the more likely we are to dislike them. Our familiarity with sin is the antithesis of this saying; a familiarity with sin can draw us into a relationship with it... breeding contempt, or a loss of dedication to our pursuit of righteousness... and perhaps a loss of faith altogether. For this reason our God is a jealous God.
“(for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice, and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods.”
Exodus 34:14-16 ESV
In the Shakespeare play “The Tempest” there is a line that goes like this “Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows” it is spoken by a man who has been shipwrecked and seeks shelter with a sleeping monster. Our monster is sin, and we are inclined to readily accept it if we are not dedicated wholeheartedly to our pursuit of faith in Jesus Christ. Only by completely loving, and applying ourselves to our faith can we avoid our monster... sin.
“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”
Matthew 22:37 KJV
If we don’t hate sin, and we make room for it in our lives, or come to accept it as a roommate, then we become aquatinted with another famous line from Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” that goes like this...”Hell is empty, and all the devils are here.” In other words, we will be yielding to our true human character as it is without the assistance of the Holy Spirit... we will fall into sin.
“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”
Romans 6:12-13 KJV
By hating evil, and not tolerating sin we find quite a different outcome from that of allowing the devils of unrighteousness into ourselves... we find the joy, and peace of God to be the fruit of our pursuit of faithfulness.
“Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart. Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name!”
Psalms 97:11-12 ESV
So don’t accept evil, resist sin, even in casual association, and pursue righteousness with all your being. Don’t take your old love into your new bride’s home. Don’t lie down beside the monster, and by all means, don’t empty Hell into your life. Live a life dedicated to loving God with every ounce of your energy; with all your heart, soul, and mind. In this way you will hear those faithful words...
“And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Matthew 3:17 KJV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your jealousy, and for guiding us into an untainted love for you. Thank you for leading us into worshiping you with all our hearts, souls, and minds. Thank you also for your Son Jesus who speaks to us regarding obedience to your perfect and unblemished will, and the psalmist who warns us to hate evil. Thank you Holy Father for setting us aside as your people, and giving us your Holy Spirit to provide an understanding of you... even to the point of praying for us when we can’t find the words. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who is a jealous God, and demands that we love you as you love us... completely. Praised be your name Father as you lead us away from even a brush with sin, and into your perfect and Holy love forever. Great are you who has saved us by your love, and grace. All glory is yours Heavenly Father, and your provision promised as we pray “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Praised be your name now, and forevermore.
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”
1 John 2:15-17 ESV
Rich Forbes