IT DOESN'T GO BOTH WAYS

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Like a muddied spring or a polluted well are the righteous who give way to the wicked.

Proverbs 25:26     

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

We are in the world but not of the world.

You may have heard this expression used a time or two if you’ve been a believer long enough. It does have roots in the scriptures as we consider these words written by John as he captured the words of Jesus praying to God, His Father and ours, over His disciples:

“I have given them Your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that You take them out of the world but that You protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.” John 17:14-19

What was Jesus’ primary concern here?

It was the corruption of His disciples by a world He knew was the domain of the evil one, the one who sought only to destroy every good and perfect thing that God had done to include ruining and destroying His beloved creation, namely us. He knew that those who placed their faith and trust in Him, committing to follow His will and way, were still vulnerable to attacks from Satan. Unprotected, mere man or woman would not stand a chance.

Indeed, we see the end results today of many people who claim to believe but refuse to turn away from the things of the world that present such an allure and attraction. The treasures of the earth can be made to look awfully inviting and Satan does just that, deceiving countless believers to place more merit on them than the treasures of heaven that Jesus exhorts us to choose instead, treasures that include sanctification (aka holiness), justification (aka Jesus making us just-as-if-we-had-never-sinned through His willingness to bear our sins on the cross), and righteousness.

We are in the world but we are not to be of the world. In other words, it doesn’t go both ways.

This is what Solomon was getting at when he wrote today’s proverb. Take a look at his words and think about how they apply to a person who straddles the line between the world and Jesus, unwilling to stand on one side or the other but wanting a little of what both offer:

Like a muddied spring or a polluted well are the righteous who give way to the wicked. Proverbs 25:26

When one who is righteous gives way and chooses to adopt the ways of the wicked, they have just muddied the very pristine living waters that Jesus gives them, the waters He spoke us when He talked to the Samaritan woman by Jacob’s well. You’ll recall Jesus asked her for a drink of water drawn from the well knowing that the woman’s inner spring was polluted with adultery and a long line of husbands left behind. The woman’s inner well was polluted by her sinfulness but Jesus offered her a new life and a new way that day as her eyes were opened to see the Messiah she knew was coming. That day, the woman received Jesus and found her muddied water cleared, her polluted well cleansed and purified.

Friends, I don’t know where you are today in your Christian walk. Maybe you are firmly walking in obedience to the Lord Jesus to His will and way as He continues to sanctify you daily and lead you to be more like Him and His righteousness. If so, carry on. But if you are one who heads to church and worships on Sunday while choosing to revel in the world’s trappings the remainder of the time, then this devotion and proverb is for you.

In the end translation, the Lord doesn’t just want a part of us. He wants all of us just as He gave all of Himself freely to save us. It’s not a choice between the world or Jesus. It’s a non-negotiable dedication to Christ and Christ alone.

When it comes to the world and Jesus, we can’t have it both ways. We can be in the world but we have to be of Christ if we consider ourselves Christian.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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