Guilty?

For Monday, June 19, 2006
Proverbs 18:5

It is not good to be partial to the wicked
or to deprive the righteous of justice.

Surely we all agree. But then, how might we be guilty? By placing ourselves before God and others. We will ignore political policies that hurt others but either help us or at least do not harm us. We will avert our eyes when confronted by injustice if what is required of us is sacrifice or inconvenience. When our world is just that - "our" world - then right and wrong get redefined to what makes us feel comfortable or uncomfortable. We are partial to the wicked when we ignore their wickedness. We deprive the righteous of justice when we fail to strive for justice.

And then there are our actions. We are partial to the wicked when we speak like them and hurt others. We deprive the righteous of justice when we fail to speak well of them and encourage them. We must remember that the Judge of all the earth sees our every action (and inaction) and that his standards are far beyond human laws. What we consider trivial, he regards as great offenses or great deeds of kindness; and so much of what we think to be of great magnitude, he finds to be small.

All the more then, let us do the daily difficult work of examing our hearts before the Lord; and let us daily fall on the grace of God in Christ for forgiveness and for the power to live righteously to his glory.