October 18, 2017 - - I Thessalonians 5:22 Abstain from Evil, Embrace Good

Abstain from every form of evil.

I Thessalonians 5:22 NKJV

In a Supreme Court decision of 1964, it was determined that the Constitution protected all forms of pornography except "hard-core" pornography. Exactly what "hard-core porn" is was left undefined and Justice Potter Stewart said "I know it when I see it." How sad.

How easy it is to make allowance for some supposedly lesser evil while trying to keep worse evil at bay. It is not possible. Watching a progressive parade of lesser evils which become greater evils opens the heart and numbs the mind so that ever greater infections and corruptions of evil are tolerated.

The text above is set in the context of: embracing all that is good, drenching all of life in prayer, and pursuing all that is wholesome in Christ.

What evil are you toying with in your life? What evil things are you allowing in your life and pretending to put up a limit against greater evil by saying: "I know it when I see it"? As Paul wrote in that same passage: "test all things: hold fast to what is good" (I Thessalonians 5:21).

Mighty God of all Holiness and Power send Your Spirit to rinse out all traces of evil infection and moral rot so that the grace of Jesus Christ may reach every part of the heart, the mind and life. Let Christ and His work be the standard of good and the goal. Amen.