Can I pray for you in any
way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.
In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
** Follow The Christian
Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk
** Like posts and send friend
requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn
** Become a Follower of
The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
(a people) who say, ‘Keep away;
don’t come near me, for I am too sacred for you!’ Such people are smoke in my
nostrils, a fire that keeps burning all day.
Isaiah 65:5
This ends today’s reading from God's holy
word. Thanks be to God.
The last few days I have been reading about this debate
that has been raging within social circles.
The discussion has surrounded the recent discovery that an
organization in the United States may have sold body parts of fetuses that were
aborted and whether or not this was wrong. The battle lines here have been
typically drawn in the same place as the dispute on abortion itself. It seems
everyone has an opinion one way or another as to whether it’s right or not.
Into this debate has come the story of an American who
traveled abroad to hunt and kill a lion for sport. The act wasn’t illegal but
the story broke globally and again, there’s been a lot of talk as to whether it
should have happened or not with animal rights activists speaking against and
those who favor the sport of hunting having no issue with it.
How do these fit together?
It comes down to the sanctity and sacredness of life
itself.
Those who are pro-life and against abortion have come out
to say there is more of an outcry against killing a lion than the act of
destroying unborn human lives which happens far more frequently. They can’t
fathom how the life of an animal would be or could be considered more important
than the legal sanctioning of murdering developing babies.
Of course, at the heart of this is the matter of morality
and when it comes to that subject, here’s the problem. It seems everyone has their own idea of what
it is and it isn’t something that is static but constantly evolving within the
world view of people. Go back in time and you’ll find that what was once
considered wrong is considered right today. Perhaps we’re even moving to a
place where anything goes and there will be nothing seen as wrong anymore. I
believe that day is coming and when it does, look for Jesus to return shortly
thereafter as we know He will come back to pass judgment on the people of earth
before He destroys it and starts over again with a new heaven and earth
(Revelation 21:1-4).
Simply put, the Lord is not going to stand by and allow
humanity to produce its own definitions of right and wrong. He has set the
standards for righteousness in His holy word and those standards are never
going to change or go away. So what happens when His people choose to do their
own thing and disregard Him?
The answer is at the center of today’s scripture verse as
we look at the 4th devotion in the series, The Lord Speaks. Look at these words
here:
(a people) who say, ‘Keep away; don’t come near me, for I am too sacred
for you!’ Such people are smoke in my nostrils, a fire that keeps burning all
day. Isaiah 65:5
Note here that the Israelites have become righteous unto
themselves. They were too sacred for anyone to tell them what to do. They had
it all figured out and had no need for the Lord’s direction or guidance. Or so
they thought.
As we see in this verse, this attitude didn’t sit well with
the Lord for the actions of His people stoked a fire of anger within Him that
never extinguished during the day. That was not going to lead to a positive
outcome for the Israelites and indeed, God’s judgment fell on them in a big way
as they were exiled from their homeland and sent into captivity in Babylon for
seventy long years.
Fast forward to the New Testament and you may recall the
many battles Jesus had with the Jewish religious authorities of the day, the
Pharisees and the Sadducees.
Do you remember what was at the heart of the conflict?
I can tell you it was the self righteousness of the two religious
groups and the hypocrisy with which they conducted their lives. They would rail
against the Jews for not being as sacred and blameless as they were but behind
closed doors, the Pharisees and Sadducees were no less sinners than everyone
else. They put on a good show in public but Jesus could see right through their
façade and would have none of it.
The Lord despises self righteousness. There is no arguing
this.
And yet, as we look at our world today, have we turned
right around and repeated the mistakes of the past. Instead of turning to the
Lord for our bearings as to what is right and wrong, we are making things up as
we go along. We are creating our own righteousness which means we are deciding
what is right in our own eyes and behaving accordingly. The ways of the world
have become more sacred than the ways of the Lord and I have to believe we are
once again fanning the flames of His ire as He looks down upon what we are
doing.
Friends, it’s time we wake up and instead of debating the
matters of right and wrong, turning to the Lord for the definitive answers. He
is the only true source of what is right and righteous. As long as we follow
His will and ways, we will never go wrong and ensure we are living in His
favor.
The Lord is speaking loudly to us today and telling us to
never establish our own righteousness. It’s time we turn our full attention to
Him and listen.
Amen.
In
Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
No comments:
Post a Comment