It’s Friday…And All The While God Grieves

Does God hate? That’s a strong word, hate. It’s hard to image God hating anything. Yet, He does. God is relentless in His hatred of evil. We may think He tolerates it awfully well to let the world go on as it has for centuries. But He hates it. He has demonstrated at every turn His opposition to anything that conflicts with His character and corrupts His work. His judgments are certain. God and evil will not forever co-exist.

We must ask ourselves if we love this God. We would hardly admit that we don’t, but the biblical witness is clear: Those who love Him will hate evil. Those who love evil have opposed God. There can be no doublemindedness in the heart of man – not legitimately, and not permanently. Those who have not received Jesus Christ as Lord of their life cannot help but accept some form of evil, whether it is ideological or moral. And those of us who do know Jesus as Savior cannot tolerate any form of evil – at least not in the long run. Our true love will tell us. Sooner or later, we will demonstrate either a love for God or a love for corruption.

“Let those who love The LORD hate evil.” (Psalm 97:10)

That doesn’t mean that followers of Jesus can’t ever vacillate between the two. We know we shouldn’t. But one of them will eventually win. Jesus told this truth to His disciples: John 14:23-24 “Anyone who loves Me will obey My teaching. . . anyone who does not love Me will not obey My teaching.” It doesn’t get any clearer than that.

An obedient follower of Christ may or may not have love for God in his heart. But this is certain, a follower of Jesus who loves Him will essentially obey Him. Anyone can fake obedience, but you cannot hide love. It will always come out in actions, and those actions will be increasingly marked by an absence of evil. Those who love The LORD will live what He values.

Most of us have grown up in a society that has had a high tolerance for evil. It is found in every form of the media and in every public arena. We dismiss gross corruptions because, after all, no one’s perfect. We allow our own bad habits to become more deeply ingrained because, after all, we’re not legalistic Puritans. And All The While God Grieves. Why? He hates evil and is zealous about purging it from every heart, especially the hearts of His children. Wouldn’t it be great if His righteous zeal became more and more ours?

Have a carefree weekend. Make it better by worshiping The Lord with those who find themselves doing the things that please The Lord most, because they have learned that is what brings them the most fulfilment.

All For Jesus – Nothing More, Nothing Less, Nothing Else.

“He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, The King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see, to Him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:15b-16)