THE PRICE OF BEING A STANDARD – Wednesday May 27th 2015
Memorise: Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you - 2 Corinthians 6:17
Read: 2nd Corinthians 6:14-18
14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
MESSAGE:
To become a standard or a positive reference point, there is a price to pay. Going though the Bible, one will see that all those who got outstanding approval from God had at least one thing in common, which is that they stood out for God before they became a reference point. One of such Bible heroes is Elijah. He stood out for God on Mount Carmel. He risked being killed by the numerous prophet of Baal whom he had challenged. As a matter of fact, he was considered to be Public Enemy No. 1 by the ruler of his day, Ahab (1st Kings 21:20)
Another Bible hero is Daniel. He stood out alongside three other young Hebrew men in order to be outstanding and thus became a standard. Several times, he risked being killed because of his stand for goodliness. He knew his God and would not compromise his allegiance to Him. On one occasion, a degree forbade everybody from praying to God, but he put his life at risk by praying. He showed that he was different from every other person. The Bible says he did not go into hiding to pray; rather, he opened his windows and prayed three times a day until he was found out (Daniel 6:10). He disobeyed the malicious decree, which his malicious fellow presidents made King Darius to sign. One striking thing in this story was statement of these presidents in Daniel 6:5:
“Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.”
The question is: if it becomes a crime to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, will you be found guilty? It is unfortunate that Christians are steadily losing their virtue as salt and the light in this world of darkness. Christians are no longer setting the standard for godly, virtuous living. They are allowing this corrupt world to overwhelm them, failing to realise that the state of corruption they are witnessing today was predicted in the Bible so long ago t prepared us to meet its challenges (2nd Timothy 3:1-5). This is the reason why in today’s Bible reading. God commands us to come out from among evildoers, particularly false brethren. This is part of the price of being a standard; you must stand out and not conform to this world (Romans 12:2). May the Lord give you the grace to obey in Jesus Name.
Action point: Watch out for the evil deeds of this world and try to separate yourself from doing them. You will soon be noticed as different, and you will become a standard to the glory of God.
Bible in one year: 2nd Samuel 19:16-20:26, Mark 14:53-15:5
SOURCE: OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL, VOLUME 15, 2015
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