March 31
"You who love the Lord, hate evil!"
Psalm
97:10
It might be surprising to some that the word "hate"
is something we are commanded to do. It's very important though, to
understand WHAT we are to hate. Simply put, we are to hate
evil.
Many do not understand how evil evil is. Evil is the
opposite of all that God is.We are to hate, to abhor, to flee from
sin - because sin is a destroyer. When it succeeds in ensnaring a
person, its object is to destroy him.
"But each one is
tempted when he is DRAWN away
by his
own desires and ENTICED.
Then, when
desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin,
and
sin, when it is finished, brings forth death."
James
1:15
There is no happiness in sin. Sin provides pleasure by
its very nature - otherwise no one would sin, would they? Satan
presents sin as pleasure, and very few can resist pleasure - until
they understand that that pleasure is fleeting, and it can never
bring true happiness. Happiness is not pleasure, and pleasure is not
happiness.
When a person is overcome with sin, the lack of
happiness in it will slowly dawn on him, and he may begin to realize
he has been duped. In the state of destruction, that's when a person
may call upon the Lord. When a man realizes he's been destroyed,
perhaps he will turn to the God of salvation. One of the first things
he will learn from God is that the fear of the Lord is what will lead
him to the happiness he sought in the wrong places.
Then - the
Lord will begin transforming him and in that transformation he will
come into a true happiness he never knew before. He comes to
experience the peace of goodness which brings "joy unspeakable
and full of glory."
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