1 Thessalonians 5:22-23 "Abstain from all appearance of evil. (23) And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
I do not even pretend that these instructions are easy to do. It requires
the child of God to be aware of situations and circumstances that are
surrounding him/her. Peter stated our approach to life should be done in this
manner: "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a
roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." (1 Peter 5:8)
What did he mean when he told us to be sober? It seems to me that
we are to always be alert concerning the things happening around us and beware
of where our own thoughts are taking us. Paul stated in another place,
"And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the
Spirit; (19) Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
(20) Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Ephesians 5:18-20) We should
not allow anything on this earth to cloud our reasoning and destroy our witness
of the grace of God in our lives.
It has occurred to me in these devotions from the various writings of Paul that
he was a man of gratitude. Not only did he realize where the Lord had
delivered him from, he also rejoiced in that realization. He often referred to
himself as a "wretched man" (Romans 7:24) and as the "chief of
sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15). He realized the depth of love that was
bestowed upon him in Christ Jesus coming to this world to die for the debt of
sin that he owed. I must ask myself this morning, first, "Do I
realize what Jesus did for me and why He did it for me?" And then I ask,
"Do I really rejoice in that great gift of love bestowed upon me?"
I ask you, in reading this, that if you ask yourself these questions do
not answer with a quick and simple, "yes"; rather, let the impact of
them sink deep within. I stop now to think about my life and my actions.
When I truly look deep within myself, I only have room for rejoicing that the
love of Jesus is so amazing and so deep that He would endure such suffering,
grief, and pain for one such as I.
If that does not motivate me to abstain from evil and then to rejoice in my
Saviour's love, then nothing else will. How can we abstain from all appearances
of evil? How can we be filled with the Spirit whereby we are able to use
discernment in our lives? These two questions are the reason I included
verses 19 and 20 from the Ephesian quote. Paul answers those questions
for us. In order to avoid one thing, I must aim toward another. If
I am going to avoid evil and even the very appearance of it, then I must aim
toward glorifying my Lord in my words and actions. He tells us to be
filled with the Spirit by "speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs." As we do these things, the Lord is at the
forefront of our hearts and minds. We then start to make melody in our hearts
to the Lord.
Jesus told us that we cannot serve God and mammon. We cannot think two thoughts
at the same time; therefore, we are more apt to abstain if we exercise our
hearts and minds toward the Lord. We have the promise of the Almighty that He
will sanctify us unto Himself. We have the promise of preservation in Christ
Jesus our Lord; therefore, should we not sanctify ourselves to pleasing Him and
glorifying Him instead of ourselves?