Protected Lives

You who love the Lord, hate evil! He protects the lives of his godly people and rescues them from the power of the wicked. Light shines on the godly, and joy on those whose hearts are right. May all who are godly rejoice in the Lord and praise his holy name! (Psalm 97:10-12 NLT)

If you count yourself among those who love the Lord, you will have a 'love-hate' relationship with the evil around you. I say it is a 'love-hate' relationship because as long as our sin nature has any control in our lives, we will sometimes love doing what is wrong while also hating that we do it. The more we 'fall out of love' with our sinful desires, the more we will learn to hate all forms of evil - even the stuff that doesn't tempt us into sin right now.

God's plan for us is to live 'protected lives'. He isn't taking us out of this evil world the moment we say yes to him, but he is providing a means by which we can live in such a way so as to not be enticed into the evil around us. That 'means' is Christ's Spirit within us and his Word. If his words never find their way into our heart, we will only half the defenses we need to resist the pull toward evil. This is why God tells us to study it (2 Timothy 2:15). 

How does light dispel darkness? It has to be 'turned on', doesn't it? I have many lamps and overhead lighting options in my home, but until I 'flip the switch', there is no light emanating from those lightbulbs. As soon as the switch is flipped, light glows brightly from some, while others give more of an ambient lighting. Depending on the need, I can choose one or the other. I wouldn't use ambient lighting if I wanted to see my crochet stitches, but I do when I am chilling at the end of the day.

In much the same way, we have God's Word at our disposal. It can be bright as all get out, illuminating a whole bunch of things with all kinds of accuracy. It can also be just a slight glow, letting us know it is there are our disposal, but not really doing much more than making us feel safe and comfortable. We might need the 'bright light' of his Word when we are seeking wisdom, but we need the comfort of his Word when we are just 'chilling' with Jesus. 

Evil isn't always evident to us. Sometimes we need the bright light to be shone in order to illuminate what we should be dealing with in our lives and what it is we should avoid entirely. Use the light you have been given, and you will realize there is so much benefit in 'seeing clearly' what the world would want us to believe is truth but is actually nothing more than lies disguised as truth. Just sayin!