Bible League: Living His Word It is not good to be partial to the wicked and so deprive the innocent of justice.— Proverbs 18:5 NIV Do you know a guy like Jack? Jack wants to get ahead in the world. If truth be told, getting ahead in the world is the defining motive of Jack's life. Everything he does is geared to advancing his career. Everything he does must pay off in some way. That's why he hangs around the right people, people that can do something for him. If they are beside or beneath him in the pecking order, they mean nothing. It doesn't matter to Jack if the right people are actually the wrong people. That is, it doesn't matter to Jack if they're actually wicked people. All that matters is that they can do something to move him up the social scale. So, he curries favor with them, showing partiality. Jack's judgment and evaluation aren't governed by right and wrong, but by selfish self-interest. If giving the wicked a pass will pay off in some way, then a pass is what they'll get. If doing them a favor will help him move up the line, then a favor is what he'll do for them. Indeed, so motivated by getting ahead is Jack that it doesn't matter if giving the wicked a pass hurts somebody else. It doesn't matter if the innocent are deprived of justice. Jack would tip the scales in favor of the wicked at the drop of a hat if there was something in it for himself. If someone took the time to look behind Jack, they'd see the bodies of those he sacrificed for the wicked strewn beside the path he took, scattered like pins struck by a bowling ball. Do you know a guy like Jack? Are you like Jack? Our verse for today says that it's not good to be partial to the wicked. Other verses in God's Word emphasize that believers need to uphold the cause of the innocent and the oppressed. "Rescue the weak and the needy," says Psalm 82:4, "deliver them from the hand of the wicked," (See also Exodus 22:22 and Isaiah 61:8). So before we get too judgmental of Jack, let's open our eyes, look in the mirror, and make sure we are not behaving like Jack. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingGenesis 15, 16, 17 Genesis 15 -- God's Covenant with Abram NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Genesis 16 -- Sarai, Hagar, and Ishmael NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Genesis 17 -- The Covenant of Circumcision NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Matthew 5:27-48 Matthew 5 -- The Sermon on the Mount; Beatitudes; Salt; Law; Murder; Adultery; Divorce; Oaths; Enemies NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion And Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD counted him as righteous because of his faith. Insight Although Abram had been demonstrating his faith through his actions, it was his belief in the Lord, not his actions, that made Abram right with God. Challenge We, too, can have a right relationship with God by trusting him. Our outward actions—church attendance, prayer, good deeds—will not by themselves make us right with God. A right relationship is based on faith—the heartfelt inner confidence that God is who he says he is and does what he says he will do. Right actions will follow naturally as by-products. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Ezekiel 33:22 Now the hand of the Lord was upon me in the evening.In the way of judgment this may be the case, and, if so, be it mine to consider the reason of such a visitation, and bear the rod and him that hath appointed it. I am not the only one who is chastened in the night season; let me cheerfully submit to the affliction, and carefully endeavour to be profited thereby. But the hand of the Lord may also be felt in another manner, strengthening the soul and lifting the spirit upward towards eternal things. O that I may in this sense feel the Lord dealing with me! A sense of the divine presence and indwelling bears the soul towards heaven as upon the wings of eagles. At such times we are full to the brim with spiritual joy, and forget the cares and sorrows of earth; the invisible is near, and the visible loses its power over us; servant-body waits at the foot of the hill, and the master-spirit worships upon the summit in the presence of the Lord. O that a hallowed season of divine communion may be vouchsafed to me this evening! The Lord knows that I need it very greatly. My graces languish, my corruptions rage, my faith is weak, my devotion is cold; all these are reasons why his healing hand should be laid upon me. His hand can cool the heat of my burning brow, and stay the tumult of my palpitating heart. That glorious right hand which moulded the world can new-create my mind; the unwearied hand which bears the earth's huge pillars up can sustain my spirit; the loving hand which incloses all the saints can cherish me; and the mighty hand which breaketh in pieces the enemy can subdue my sins. Why should I not feel that hand touching me this evening? Come, my soul, address thy God with the potent plea, that Jesus' hands were pierced for thy redemption, and thou shalt surely feel that same hand upon thee which once touched Daniel and set him upon his knees that he might see visions of God. Daily Light on the Daily Path Mark 6:30 The apostles gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught.Proverbs 18:24 A man of too many friends comes to ruin, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Exodus 33:11 Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses returned to the camp, his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent. John 15:14,15 "You are My friends if you do what I command you. • "No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. Luke 17:10 "So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.'" Romans 8:15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" Philippians 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Proverbs 15:8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, But the prayer of the upright is His delight. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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