God makes us pure by an act
of His sovereign grace, but we still have something that we must carefully
watch. It is through our bodily life coming in contact with other people and
other points of view that we tend to become tarnished. Not only must our “inner
sanctuary” be kept right with God, but also the “outer courts” must be brought
into perfect harmony with the purity God gives us through His grace. Our
spiritual vision and understanding is immediately blurred when our “outer
court” is stained. If we want to maintain personal intimacy with the Lord Jesus
Christ, it will mean refusing to do or even think certain things. And some
things that are acceptable for others will become unacceptable for us.
A practical help in keeping
your personal purity unblemished in your relations with other people is to
begin to see them as God does. Say to yourself, “That man or that woman is perfect in Christ Jesus!
That friend or that relative is perfect
in Christ Jesus!”
… while the latter shares and challenges
us …
… to
consider the Christian’s role in caring for the planet—especially how that
relates to reaching the most needy in the world.
Our
stewardship of the beautiful world God gave us, and our care for the people in
it, express our reverence for God and is grounded in two biblical principles.
First, the
earth belongs to God (Ps. 24:1-2). The psalmist praised the Lord for His
creation and His ownership of it. The heavens, the earth, and all that are in
it are His. He created it, He is sovereign over it (93:1-2), and He cares for
it (Matt. 6:26-30). Second, God delegated the responsibility for the well-being
of His earth to us (Gen. 1:26-28). This includes appreciation of and care for
both nature (Lev. 25:2-5,11; Prov. 12:10) and people (Rom. 15:2).
This is our
Father’s world. Let’s show Him how much we love Him by respecting it and caring
for the people who populate it.
…
and my journey with Him continues …
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