Since hearing the news of Bin Laden's death, I have felt a little relief to know that justice was served in some small way. At the same time, I don't think we (as Christians) should rejoice in his death. I know this man did horrific things to his country and countless others. There were many men, women, and children that suffered greatly at his hands. There are so many terrible things that happen that sadden God that we may never see or hear. God knows us inside and out. Much like He knew his people, in Ezekiel 18, He was rebuking and urging them to turn from their ways. He was addressing a generational sin issue. He was telling them just because your father is righteous...it doesn't make the son righteous and so on and so on. They were judged on their own souls. This was, of course, before Christ's death and resurrection from the cross. He will never leave or forsake us. We have a free will to choose our Savior. Ezekiel 18:23, God says he does NOT rejoice in the death of sinful...He rejoices in the sinful turning away from their wickedness and toward him. (I am paraphrasing.) He mentions this again in Ezekiel 33. This shows that God gives us all a chance to turn from sin. He wants us to choose life. Life with Him for eternity, not an eternity in hell. It is a struggle to pray for our enemies great and small.
I have written previously about being a gracious woman. My biggest struggle with this study was that you have to have gracious submission. This is hard because God calls us to forgive as we would want forgiveness. (I went into more detail about it in that post.) I want justice for injustices. When I have opened up my mouth and said things that have deeply wounded a friend. I wanted mercy. When I have betrayed some one's trust by gossiping about them (even when I thought it was venting to another person. tearing someone apart with another friend listening is gossip. If you have an issue/problem, talk directly to that person.) I wanted mercy. I know that I haven't ever murdered someone. I have hated someone. I don't want to admit it, but I did. Jesus said, if you have hate in your heart for someone else. You have committed murder. I have repented and forgave. It is a command to love our enemies, even enemies that harm us or others.
On another side of this discussion, there are millions of babies murdered every year. Do we know who has done this? Do we know if they have repented and turned to God? Do we rejoice in their death?There are thousands if not millions that are killed in genocide. Do we rejoice when these leaders die? As Christians we are called to pray for these and all people who haven't humbled themselves and accepted Christ's free gift. Preacher Man has been reading a biography about Leonard Ravenhill. Lynnie is what I have started to call him since he is in most of our conversations. Preacher Man said that Lynnie was a man of prayer. He had a long life of ministry. He was not someone that had a mega church, but he spoke at many revivals. Preacher Man and I have been convicted about our prayer lives. It isn't enough to pray in the morning, before meals, and at night. Our prayer lives should be like breathing. It starts small. When someone cuts you off when you're driving, asks you to move your car blocking their driveway when they aren't going anywhere, someone says something about you behind your back. These little things left not prayed over, can turn to anger. Anger and hate drives a wedge between God and us. We need to fight against anything that will tear us from our Savior's grip. Fight through all the garbage that society give us day in and day out! We are called to be peculiar people, not reacting the way that the world reacts.
No comments:
Post a Comment