The Dividends of Shunning Evil

Psalm 97:10-12 Hate evil, you who love the LORD. He protects his followers and saves them from evil people. Light and happiness shine on those who want to do right. Good people, be happy in the LORD! Praise his holy name!

There are two approaches to pretty much anything in life that’s worth doing. The first, the one most people take most of the time, is the half-hearted approach. The second, the one that champions take, is the route of complete, 100% commitment.

And if those starkly different choices apply to everything in life – a marriage, parenting, a career, whatever – then they certainly apply to the person who decides to follow Jesus.

Sadly, in making that choice, all too many unthinkingly drift toward the half-hearted approach. Their mindset is more about “What can I get away with?” than “What can I give up, what can I sacrifice, to honour God above all else?”

Doubtless it’s a choice that you know only too well. And whilst, yes, God always gives us a choice, it’s pretty clear which one He wants us to opt for:

Psalm 97:10-12 Hate evil, you who love the LORD. He protects his followers and saves them from evil people. Light and happiness shine on those who want to do right. Good people, be happy in the LORD! Praise his holy name!

When we unthinkingly drift into a half-hearted relationship with Jesus, before long, those little compromises lead us into evil, egged on by all the evil people around us.

But when we take the route of champions, always looking for what we can sacrifice in order to worship God with our lives, when we shun evil, when we hate it … then all of a sudden there’s a bountiful dividend that we never expected:

God protects his followers, He saves them from evil people. He shines His light and happiness on us when we want to do right. And He fills us with His joy.

#NoteToSelf: Hate evil!

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.

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