Wednesday, June 17, 2015

INDICATORS OF WICKED LIVING (PART 2)



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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Come, all you beasts of the field, Come and devour, all you beasts of the forest!

Israel’s watchmen are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they lie around and dream, they love to sleep.

Isaiah 56:9, 10b

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

Yesterday, we looked at the first of a twelve part series on indicators of wicked living as God tells us of things we need to refrain from doing if we are going to live the kind of righteous lives he desires. In it, we looked at how Israel’s leaders had failed to share God’s vision, and in doing so, we’re attempting to shepherd His people without knowledge or understanding.

In other words, the leaders God had entrusted His people to were leading them into wickedness vice righteousness. When the people of nations are living in wickedness, you can typically trace the roots of that behavior to their leadership.

Today, we see the Lord warning us about adopting the wicked attitudes of complacency and lethargy. Look at these words again:

Come, all you beasts of the field, Come and devour, all you beasts of the forest!

Israel’s watchmen are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they lie around and dream, they love to sleep.  I
saiah 56:9, 10b

Again, we need to remember that God despises wickedness and will render penalties for anyone who willingly chooses to live that way. This is alluded to in verse 9 as the beasts of the field and forest are summoned to attack and devour anyone who chooses wickedness for a lifestyle. Note that the indicator of wicked living God mentions today is simply laziness, calling out the leaders of Israel for being like dogs who lie around, sleep, and dream. Any dog doing this will not be speaking for the Lord as they should but rather mute and bark-less. But don’t think this is just a warning for the leaders of Israel, anymore than yesterday’s devotion was. For all of God’s people are called to share His vision and seek His wisdom and understanding as well as live actively for Him in carrying out His will and way.

You see, the Lord does not call us to be passive in carrying out His work. Rather, we are to go and make disciples of all nations, helping others to be baptized and learn all that Christ commanded so they can enter into a relationship with Him and His Son Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20). We can’t do this is we’re sitting around, daydreaming and sleeping all day because the Lord’s righteous work is not going to get done if we just sit around and do nothing.

Certainly, as we look at the life of Jesus, He was always on the move, always seeking to be about His Father’s business and He had His disciples along with Him almost every step of the way.

Why?

Because He was trying to teach them the right way to live, the way that would ever keep them productive in carrying out the Father’s will, the way that would keep them in His favor. And He shows us as well when we study His life in the scriptures.

It makes sense, doesn’t it?

Jesus was the only person to ever walk this earth and live in perfect righteousness. There was no wickedness in Him at all. So if we are going to hope to avoid falling into wickedness in the way we live, it only makes sense that we should always seek to live just as Jesus did. After all, we do refer to ourselves as Christians, right? This means we are to be like Christ in the way we live.

In the end translation here, God does not favor complacency or lethargy or laziness. They are all indicators of wicked living, living that takes us away from the purposes God has for our lives, living that reflects that we have not chosen to live like Jesus, the One from which we draw our identity as Christians.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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