It's a love/hate relationship

“I love you.”  “You’re fired.”  “Will you marry me?”  “I want a divorce.”  Isn’t it funny how sometimes just a few words can be heavy with impact?  This morning during my devotional time with God I came across one of those phrases that packed a powerful punch.  The beginning of Psalm 97:10 says, “You who love the Lord, hate evil!”  
BAM!  Hate evil... ok, wait, back up just one second.  The first thing is this is directed at those who love the Lord.  Is that me?  (Is that you?)  Do I really love the Lord?  Really?  What evidence is there to show it?  I attend church.  I serve on a committee.  I volunteer at the soup kitchen.  What about internally?  Is my heart bent on Him?  On His glory?  Do I desire time with Him?  To know Him more?  What evidence, that only you know, is there that you love the Lord?
Hate evil...  Oh, how we hate evil and how we are more than willing to talk about it.  The litany of big sins is so easy I need not waste time to mention them here.  “Thank God I’m not one of those people!”  Bad news, I am “those people”... and so are you.  And that is exactly what packed such a powerful punch this morning in reading this.  “Hate evil.”  How quickly I am to turn that to others rather than internalizing it and using it as a measuring tool in my own life.  It’s so easy to see the speck in my brothers eye and not the plank in my own.  If we hate something we are proactive in avoiding it.  Whether it is a person (yes, I know we are not supposed to hate people...) or a food, we intentionally steer clear of them.  What about evil?  
Do I avoid evil?  Do I steer clear of it?  As this verse says, do I hate it?  Not in the lives of others (that’s way to easy), but in my own life.  Such a short verse packing such a powerful punch! -dp

Comments

Kaylan said…
Thank you, D.... Just what I needed this morning!
November 10, 2011 at 6:54 AM
Becky said…
I love this, especially this part: "Not in the lives of others (that's way too easy), but in my own life." That's where it really hits home for each one of us!
November 10, 2011 at 6:58 AM
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