Friday, December 6, 2013

The Do's And Dont's Of True Christian Living


Psalm 15:1-5 -  LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?  He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart  and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman,  who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the LORD, who keeps his oath even when it hurts,  who lends his money without usury and does not accept a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.

 

David had many times of joy and celebration before the Lord. One of these times was the reclaiming of the Ark of the covenant that had been stored until the Tabernacle of God had been prepared for it. David may have well written this psalm as a reflection after being rebuked by his wife Michal for his public dancing …so overwhelmed by the goodness of God …he couldn’t help but show the whole city how much his God meant to him.

 

His reflection of his worship practice and the tent that he would use to speak to his creator prompted him to record for all of us these 5 short verses that give us a powerful do and don’t list to help keep our passion for God at its highest level.  They contain 10 standards for living that are key to keeping our love for God from eroding away with the passing of time. They put the emphasis on loving the people that God created …and treating them with the same respect we would treat God.

 

It will take some work to follow all 10….but we are told to strive to be blameless…refuse to slander others….close our ears to any gossip….not to harm others in any way…speak out against the sin we see around us…to rebuke the sin that crosses our path….commend and encourage the ones we see doing good….keep our promises no matter what…to avoid taking advantage of others in charging interest…and to never falsely testify against the innocent.

 

I have some work to do if am I am to follow all 10 in a complete way. I will admit that my greatest weakness in this list is closing my ears to gossip.  I join in too often with the discussions around me that suppose theories that may or may not be true about the people they are said.  But I need some work on the other 9 too. I make excuses to many times for my inability to be blameless...instead of just trying to be more holy.  I allow my mouth to shrink…thinking of a way to be more politically correct….instead of just speaking the truth of the Bible as it is clearly written. …when I am given an opportunity to speak out against sin.  And I know I need some real conviction to do a better job keeping my promises to others.  I give up way to easy when things get tough.

 

At least now I have a list of some things I need to add to my prayer requests to God. For only he can give me the strength to change my current habits and find the strength to do a better job with all of these standards that I committed to when I accepted Christ into my life. David knew that he needed to work on these things too...and I just bet he was in that Tabernacle…praying and asking God to help him be more committed too.

 

Father…thank you for reminding me that I must constantly strive to be a stronger Christian.  Help me to internalize this list of the things that will help me keep my passion to follow you stronger than the influences around me that trick me into staying lukewarm. Show me how to be more holy and walk away from any discussions that tear down the people around me.  Give me clear direction when sin around me needs to be exposed or rebuked.  Give me the courage and kind loving words that will cause the sinner to search for the truth…instead turn farther away from it. Help me seethe Zacheus’s in the trees around me that need me to sit down and talk with them…even visiting their homes to share the truth of your word.  Amen.

No comments:

Post a Comment