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The
highest courage is to dare to be yourself in the face of adversity,
choosing right over wrong, ethics over convenience, and truth over
popularity.
Travel the path of integrity without looking back, for THERE IS
NEVER A WRONG TIME TO DO THE RIGHT THING.
-
Bishop Soc Villegas
25 July 2007
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LESSONS OF JOB
(Part 11)
JUST AND RIGHTEOUS SHOULD WE BE
Today's psalm reading
again speaks about the importance of two attributes -- justice and
righteousness. We are the children of God. We are to imitate our
Lord Jesus Christ and walk in his ways. God is just and righteous.
So too must we be. "Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you just;
exult, all you upright of heart." (Ps 32:11).
How do we become just and righteous? We must strive to be people
"to whom the Lord imputes no guilt, in whose spirit is no
deceit." (Ps 32:2). But we do sin. So what we need to do is to
repent and confess our sin. "Then I declared my sin to you; my
guilt I did not hide." (Ps 32:5a). When we do so, God forgives
and restores. "I said, 'I confess my faults to the Lord,' and
you took away the guilt of my sin." (Ps 32:5b).
There are those Christians who, just like the Pharisees, look good
on the outside but are rotten on the inside. They might be serving
in the Church or the poor, but they harbor unrighteousness deep
within. They do not confess their sin, they persist in their
wrongdoing, and so they remain in their sin. And since their sin
usually would be not just against God but also against a person,
then they persist in injustice. Then the burden of sin weighs down
on them. "As long as I kept silent, my bones wasted away; I
groaned all the day." (Ps 32:3). This is as God intends, so
that they might find their way to repentance. "For day and
night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength withered as in dry
summer heat." (Ps 32:4). God who is just and righteous wants to
bring His people to repentance so that they too may become just and
righteous.
Having gone back to God, we then live our lives by trusting in Him.
God is committed to show us the way. "I will instruct you and
show you the way you should walk, give you counsel and watch over
you." (Ps 32:8). If we place our lives in His hands, God will
protect us, instruct us, guide us, pour out His grace upon us, and
preserve us from the enemy. "You are my shelter; from distress
you keep me; with safety you ring me round." (Ps 32:7). What a
wonderful situation that is! In the midst of the troubles in the
world and storms in life that we inevitably face, God is there for
us! Job was severely afflicted, but God was always there for him. As
long as we remain in Christ, then we need never fear. Whatever
happens, even as we are afflicted, as long as we are in a personal
relationship with God, then we know that He is there to help and
preserve us. "Thus should all your faithful pray in time of
distress. Though flood waters threaten, they will never reach
them." (Ps 32:6).
The choice has always been clear: life or death, joy or sorrow,
trust or fear. People continue to make wrong choices. But only in
God can we be secure and safe. Only as we live lives of
righteousness and justice will we experience the full extent of
God's love for us. "Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but
love surrounds those who trust in the Lord." (Ps 32:10).
In the midst of a world of pain and suffering, how can you be happy?
God has already shown us the way: repentance, forgiveness,
restoration, justice, righteousness, trust in Jesus. "Happy the
sinner whose fault is removed, whose sin is forgiven." (Ps
32:1). "Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you just; exult, all
you upright of heart." (Ps 32:11).
God bless you all.
frank
(October 16, 2009)
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