10/25/2020
How do we recognize things we have never known? We know love when we see it, because we have felt it, and have watched it in action. We know good things when we see them too because we taste them, feel them, and witness the mercy and grace that they exude, but how is it that we have come to recognize evil? Where did our understanding of evil come from? I would like to think we know it because we have seen it in the world, being perpetuated by the unrighteous, but scripture tells us it comes from our heart... it wells up from within us.
“For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.”
Matthew 15:19 ESV
So we know love because it wells up within us, we know good because we nourish it as it grows and flows into the world around us, and we understand evil because, like our heart, it resides within us.
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”
Jeremiah 17:9 ESV
Once we recognize that all three of these things reside in us, then we can begin to nurture the love, tend to the good, and abhor the evil. Denying that evil comes from our own heart makes us it’s prey, and opens us up to temptation, the desperation that evil imparts into our lives can slither about unchallenged at its source, and without our notice.
“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.”
Romans 12:9 ESV
When we pour water into a glass that is half full of oil, the oil floats on top of it, and as the water level approaches the top of the glass the oil spills over its rim, and runs away. Finally, the glass contains only water, and there is no more oil left. This is how good defeats evil. There is only so much room in our heart, and when we fill it with good living water, the oil, which represents evil, is displaced until at last... it is no more.
“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Romans 12:21 ESV
“And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”
Mark 10:18 ESV
So, just as a cup can’t fill itself, neither can we fill ourselves. In this regard, God has made provision for us, He is good, and His hand pours a portion of His goodness into us from the pitcher which is Jesus Christ.
“The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”
2 Timothy 4:18 ESV
We should never deny what our heart is, and what it contains. We should work day and night to open it to God’s mercy and grace as He fills us with His goodness, and rescues us from the evil that desires to make its home there. Let’s call out to Him today, and invite Him to begin the process of filling our heart with good.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for giving us an understanding of not only love, and goodness, but of evil as well. Thank you for this Lord so that through this understanding we can successfully open the door of our heart to your good, and allow you to defeat the evil that rests its head there. We praise your name Father as evil is pushed from within us, and your Holy Spirit teaches us to concentrate on all that is good and wholesome. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who is forever good, and merciful in your rescue of our hearts and souls. Teach us how to do what is good Lord, and give us an understanding of what is bad so that we can resist it. Send your angels to stand by us Father, and protect us from all evil. We worship you Father, and pray that you will pour the living water of Christ into us, and cleanse us with his precious blood. Open our hearts fully to you, and find it emptied of all evil. In this way we know that your love, and goodness, is sufficient for us, and we will join you in heaven forevermore.
Rich Forbes