"Let the righteous strike me; it shall be a kindness. And let him rebuke me; it shall be as excellent oil; let my head not refuse it. For still my prayer is against the deeds of the wicked." (Psalm 141:5)
The Hebrew word translated, "strike," means "hammer." I'm sure you have encountered this
. The word for, "rebuke," means "to correct, to reason." None too popular, but much needed in today's Christian Community.I'm not too sure that most of us would really sign on to this "style" of Christianity. Yet this is key to holiness. I'm convinced that most of us know what are our weaknesses or outright sins------- but most do little about it. Yet, "let the righteous...rebuke me; it shall be as an excellent oil...." This attitude will keep me accountable in the Church, a delicate matter which can only have the Christ-centered affect if true, "righteous," people are involved. It is a central ministry, i.e., service of the local church.
Okay, "it shall be as an excellent oil." But am I prepared to receive the, "strike," the, "rebuke (of) the righteous"? Oil is a symbol of healing in the Scriptures, and awareness, repentance, and cessation of sin is the health of the Church. Even a cursory reading of the Gospels reveals that Jesus "struck" and "rebuked" people, and not just the religious leaders. Commensurately, the key to a person's destiny in the Kingdom of Heaven was, and is, based on their response to the, "strike," and, "rebuke," of Jesus Christ.
You and I have a choice today. The love of God will bring "strikers" and "rebukers" into our lives; we all need them. The remaining question is, Will we see them as, "an excellent oil"?
Father, in Jesus' Name, "Let my head not refuse it." Amen.
***********************
See article on the complicity of the German Foreign Ministry before and during "The Third Reich" @: www.apf327.blogspot.com
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
