Shine Your Light

The Darkness of Wickedness

In Proverbs 4:14, it says not to follow the way of the wicked nor the path of evildoers. This doesn’t only mean that we should not literally follow the path of a wicked or evil person. It also means that we should not do as an evil person doe, and it also means that also should not even try to think like an evil person thinks.  It is too easy to believe that doing things in the way that the world does it is okay because they got away with it, but did they really?

 

Proverbs 4:15 goes on to say that we should turn away and go somewhere else.  There are always other choices than to do wrong. Sometimes doing right might not be the easiest thing to do in the short term. You might lose friends, but are they the friends you really want to be with? You might think that you’re missing out on an opportunity that is “once in a lifetime”. Believe me when I say, that is almost never the case. If the opportunity is something that God wants for you (and he always wants the best for you), then the opportunity will come around again. This time without evil attached to it. When evil is attached to an opportunity, it is often a premature manifestation of something that God wants for you.

Don’t Do As They Do

Look at the life of Abraham. God promised Abraham a son even in his old age. Sarah came to him with a suggestion for making that happen. She offered her handmaiden Hagar to give him a child. This was the way of the world at that time. A wife could give her servant to her husband and then claim the child as her own. This was not God’s plan and there were negative consequences. God later gave Abraham Isaac, but Isaac still has to face Ishmael every day.

 

Proverbs 4:16 says for evil people cannot sleep until they have done their evil deed for the day. They cannot rest unless they have caused someone to stumble.

 

It is not the people that we need to avoid so much as it is that we should not get caught up with their schemes. An evil person is always gossiping or scheming and usually we get hurt and they leave smelling like a rose. Verse 17 goes on to say that evil people eat wickedness and drink violence. These people seem to live and breathe this lifestyle. These people take our energy like a black hole sucks up matter and energy from the universe. I am certain there is someone in your life like this. These people are the negative Nellies or the gossipy Gerts or the schemer who tries to conning Connies. You might have to do business with them, but you don’t have to get chummy with them. Best not to get into social situations with them.

Be As the Dawn

 

“The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day.” Proverbs 4:18 tells us how we should be. We should be the light.  We should be the one who shines ever brighter.

Matthew 5:14 says that you are the light of the world. Our goal as light bearers for Christ is that we are to show our differences by not behaving like the wicked. We are to as it says in verse 16 to let our light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Does your light glorify the Father?

Donna Brown is pastor at Faith in God Church  1 1/2 miles south of Brandsville, Missouri on Hwy 63. Sunday services are at 10 am and Wednesday night Bible Study at 6:30 pm.   As Author Cygnet Brown, she  has recently published her first nonfiction book: Simply Vegetable Gardening: Simple Organic Gardening Tips for the Beginning Gardener

She is also the author of historical fiction series The Locket Saga. which includes When God Turned His Head and Soldiers Don’t Cry, the Locket Saga Continues, and most recently, A Coward’s Solace, Book III of the Locket Saga

Her most recent publication were two booklets Help From Kelp and Using Diatomaceous Earth Around the House and Yard. Available in paperback

.For more information about Cygnet Brown and her book, check out her website at http://www.cygnetbrow.com .