The Key

UV 2009/10000 The Key
Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.

Romans 12 v 9

Whatever is genuine should reject any iota of evil and cling to what is good. When man first sinned, he rejected good and accepted the suggestions and embrace of evil. In order to reject evil outright, we need to know its nature and to hate it with all our heart. We need to resist it in any form for evil presents itself in attractive and palatable packages. It is like a key that is used to lock one door, the door of evil, deceit, treachery, defeat, curses, loss, despair, destruction, depression and destruction and to open another door, the door of blessings, peace salvation, creativity, joy, mercy, hope, truth and eternal life. Paul who was trained in logic and philosophy by Gamaliel described love in terms of what it is and what it is not. He said that love is not jealous nor conceited nor proud. Love is not self seeking. Love if patient and kind. Love holds no record of wrongs or grudges or resentment at real or imagined wrongs. A person who is loving is humble and not egoistic.

But in real life, the old nature is often mixed with the new or Christ nature. The Lord uses suffering along with the Word to extract the impurities from the ore of our lives and make us and our faith like pure gold. Evil is often deceptive, persuasive and seductive in nature. Hence, we should always discern it and unmask it before we are tempted or deceived. The Word is the standard by which we decide a thing is evil or good. We cannot rely on our humanistic and relativist standards that keep changing and are so fickle.

Getting rid of the negative or evil while clinging to the good is a dual process in our lives that is on going and continuous like our breathing. Our own thoughts and desires often mislead us and we need to constantly submit these to the inspection of the Holy Spirit. As He points out the areas, we need to change for the better, change to be Christ-like, we should stick or cleave to that goal the Spirit sets for us. Without any effort on our part, evil often clings to us but we should exercise the grace given to us to push evil away and move towards that which is good. Life always involves fleeing away from some temptation or folly like Joseph did when the temptress held him by his robe and running towards the arms of Jesus. It could be an attitude, a behaviour trait, an intention, a habit, a relationship. To the extent we yield to evil, we are robbed of our health, peace, blessings, grace and power. To the extent we discipline ourselves and cleave to God and to the good He indicates, we are filled with peace, power, blessings, grace.

Prateep V Philip