November 30, 2022
In this week’s reading, we got a pretty good spread of the Bible. We start in the old testament with Isaiah, jump around the Bible and end up in the New Testament. The first scripture, Isaiah 5:20, and the last, 1 Timothy 1:15-17, stood out to me the most for how I felt at that moment.
Isaiah says to watch out for the person that calls the evil they are doing good and the good of another evil, warning us to stay clear of that kind of person. This makes sense to me. I don’t want to hang out with someone that commits crime thinking they are doing such a noble thing. That’s a lousy circle! The thing that messes me up is in 1 Timothy. Paul writes to Timothy sharing with him probably the best news for anyone that has had a rough past life.
1 Timothy 1: 15-16 (ESV)
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.
Wow. Paul was killing Christians in the name of God. He was the definition of someone doing an evil thing and calling it good. In his letter to Timothy, Paul shares this fact. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” But Paul was called and used by God anyway, and he received mercy beyond understanding or reasoning. God does not avoid this man calling evil good but confronts him, changing his life forever and using him as an example for all of us today. This reminder of a simple fact brought life, peace, and comfort into my day.
Maybe you’re like me, where I have done some evil things in my life, but to comfort myself, I call them good—trying to play well when honestly I feel awful. Maybe you are like Paul. Out there, going the opposite way of what God would have you do. Saying things like, it can’t be wrong because it is how I feel or what I believe to be correct. And, like me, you come face to face with God. Wanting to almost hide from him because woe to the one that calls evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20). Let the word of Paul and God cover you today. He is not running from you. God is very invested in you and has given you mercy that makes no sense. Look at Paul as an example of God’s patience with us.
Now Isaiah’s words of warning should still be taken to heart when it comes to us dealing with people. We are not God and should avoid walking in the council of people that do evil in the name of good, but God is not like man, and He is better! So be encouraged today like I was after reading this. God sees you. God loves you. God wants to help you be more like Christ!
3 Then Samuel said to all the people of Israel, “If you want to return to the Lord with all your hearts, get rid of your foreign gods and your images of Ashtoreth. Turn your hearts to the Lord and obey him alone; then he will rescue you from the Philistines.” 4 So the Israelites got rid of their images of Baal and Ashtoreth and worshiped only the Lord.
I Samuel 7
Psalm 84: How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs the early rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion. O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed! For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you! (ESV)
