Saturday, August 20, 2011
“Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them” (Proverbs 24:1 KJV).
Satan, “the god of this world,” is controlling the world today (2 Corinthians 4:4). Because we Christians do not live wild lives, our lost friends and family members shun us. As King James Bible-believing Pauline dispensationalists, we are contrary to much of Christendom. We are continually pressured to “go with the flow,” urged to follow religious tradition. As we struggle with the sins of the flesh, we are up against fellow “Christians?!” Considering the great opposition we face, our battle seems futile, right? Should we just give up and join our opposition? Not at all!
Today’s Scripture comforts us. As we observe the world’s evil people driving their exotic cars, abiding in their multi-million-dollar mansions, and wearing their expensive apparel, the Bible instructs us not to envy them. When we see corrupt people prospering, while we, God’s children, live common, sometimes poverty-stricken lives, let us be mindful that we do not belong here. “Our conversation [lifestyle reflecting citizenship] is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20).
There is nothing wrong with us, beloved in the Lord: the problem lies with the world! They, not us, are headed in the wrong direction. God’s Word describes lost people as “walking according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2). We Christians seem “odd” because the rest of the world is following Satan’s “course!”
Paul instructed Timothy: “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12). We are to be examples to the lost world by letting them see the life of Christ living in us. If we live like the rest of the world, the world will see nothing different about us, thus making us hypocrites.
May we follow the Apostle Paul as he follows Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). Let us forge forward, forever going against the grain!
333 Words of Grace 