1 Kings 20-21 / Acts 12:24-13:15 / Psalm 137 / Proverbs 17:16
Sometimes I get irritated when people who treat other people with injustice still seem to prosper. People who cheat others sometimes are still blessed financially and in other ways. Those who do horrible things to others seem to escape punishment. I know that evil won’t be irradicated until this earth passes away, but it’s frustrating to see bad people doing bad things and appearing to get away with it.
Although evil people may appear to get away with things here, they will give an account before God for what they’ve done if they do not repent. What if you’re the kind of person who would rather do good things, but bad things still happen to you? It seems like a terrible injustice, especially when there is a law set in place by God that we reap what we’ve sown.
And, make no mistake, we will ALL reap what we’ve sown. However, there is no time limit placed upon the reaping. Some may reap immediately while some may take a short time, and some may take a long time. Some may not realize the error of their ways until they’re standing before God and suddenly discover that because they are not in Christ, they are guilty of all they’ve done. This makes me thankful that no matter what comes my way – both good and evil – I am in Christ.
As I read today about Ahab and Jezebel, I had forgotten that God attempted to show Ahab that He was God by helping him defeat the king of Aram, not once but twice! God wasn’t helping Ahab because he was a good man. Ahab and his wife were very evil, worshipping idols, along with all sorts of terrible things. But God, in His mercy, still attempted to prove Himself to this evil man. Of course, Ahab only partially obeyed God and his dynasty was destroyed in the time of his sons’ reign.
If evil will happen to good people and good will happen to evil people, why does it matter how we live while on earth?
There’s another scripture in Matthew 5:43-48 that informs how we are to behave in light of both good and evil existing around us. This is from The New Living Translation.
You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Why should we love our enemies? First, we will prove we belong to God and are His children. Second, there is a reward for treating our enemies with love. Third, by loving our enemies we are proved to be different from those who don’t know God. Finally, loving our enemies allows us to become “perfect” or teleios, an adjective which means mature, full grown adult, wanting nothing necessary to completeness.
As a side note, teleios is a similar word to what Jesus said from the cross when He said, “It is finished.” That word was teleo, and it is a verb which means to bring to a close, to finish, to end.
Jesus finished His work on the cross; let’s “finish” our work through Him by loving those who are unlovable.
