Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Some great advice for living is found in these three verses: “For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:
This verse shows us one formula for having a full and meaningful life. The great bible commentator, Matthew Henry, believed this meant a long and prosperous life, much like the promise of a long life for all who obey the Commandment to honor their parents. God expects His children to be honest and refrain their tongue from speaking evil. Christians who do not follow this rule and are careless with the words that proceed from their mouths, dishonor and misrepresent Him, causing much harm to the cause of Christ.
Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.
Here, we are told to shun evil. To me this includes expressing our disapproval of anything that dishonors the Lord. Jesus strongly implied in His Sermon on the Mount that God’s true children are peacemakers. Instead of looking for quarrels they look for ways to ensure peace. Here again, any child of God who has a reputation for getting into quarrels or disagreements paints a very negative picture of the gospel of Christ and causes much damage.
For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” (1 Peter 3:10-12 KJV)
This trio of verses ends with a very encouraging thought, a promise, to be more exact. My wife and I were recently discussing the ways in which we sometimes limit God and His power. We do so because we are human with finite minds, while God is infinite and all powerful. God made it very clear that His ways and His thoughts are way above ours. (See Isaiah 55:8) Because we think as humans, we sometimes reason within ourselves: “How can God’s eyes be upon millions upon millions of people at the same time?” Well, didn’t He bring the universe into existence just by saying the Word? There is no limit to what God can do and if we are told here that His eyes are always upon us and His ears always open to our prayers, how can we not believe it? Therefore, I remind you: Forget the foolish notion that the Lord at anytime will not see you or hear your prayers. As far as your prayer petitions are concerned, fire away! And don’t worry that you, as a child of God, are in the same group with those that do evil. A more precise rendering of that verse (12) is “those who practice evil.” The Lord does not answer our prayers because we are good but rather because we are His children.
God’s promise for today: (Psalm 34:17) “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.”
