"for the righteous falls seven times and rises again,
but the wicked stumble in times of calamity" -Proverbs 24:16
What's the difference between the falls of a righteous man who rises, and the wicked who stumbles, in times of calamity? Let me offer this explanation.
Do you ever find yourself toeing the line of sin? Then I suggest you, and I, are like the wicked man. Imagine a chalk white line: on one side is what is sinful, on the other side what is not sinful. Do you make the determination, to merely walk on the sinless side? For safety sake and for what is wise, do you toe the line on the side of what is not sinful, and you feel pretty good about yourself? I find myself doing that, not infrequently...
This is very weak way to live the Christian life. I believe this is the way the wicked man walks, who stumbles in times of calamity.
Living a life devoted to the righteous calling of God, in Christ, doesn't mean we toe the line of sinfulness. We must learn to flee from it, and pursue righteousness. It is not just the choices to not sin, but the choice to pursue righteousness, which leads to a Christ honoring life, filled with the Spirit of God.
What our lives must not look like, is a casual walk on the sinless side of grace, toeing the line of sin. Oh no no, not sinning. Of course that would be wrong. I suggest the wicked man who stumbles in calamity, may make many sinless choices, but toes the line.
"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” -John 16:33
Eventually, you see, we all fall. When tribulation comes, the righteous will "fall" and rise again, but the wicked will "stumble". He will find himself in the muck of sin, and he will stay down in it for an indefinite period of time (maybe forever). When we do topple, if we are toeing, then that's the danger. Besides that, why would we want to toe the line? Are we so unconvinced of the glory of God? God convince me... that is my prayer.
When we toe the line, we will cross the line. It is inevitable. No matter how committed we thought we were in our casual toeing, sin-little life, we will eventually find ourselves on the other side. Like the wicked man, we will stumble. Not in the context of an avoidable oops, but in the context of an avoidable mistake we made by our own careless walk. When we toe the line, it's just going to happen--realize it, acknowledge it, and do something about it. We all go down from time to time, when calamity comes.
If we stumble like the wicked man, we won't be able to blame mere happenstance and play the victim. At least, God will know better, and so will many others. If we find our hands in the dirt of sin, it's not because we are without fault. We need to not be so arrogant, but humble, making room for our weakness and the calamities of life we know will come everyone's way.
Instead of toeing the line in a casual walk on this side of grace, we must see it and flee from the line. We must instead pursue righteousness and follow God away from the line.
Let us not gauge how walk today by how well we avoided sin, in toeing the line... but DID WE PURSUE GOD TODAY?
God help us...
---
2 Timothy 2:22 So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
No comments:
Post a Comment