"Blessed (happy, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable) is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly [following their advice, their plans and purposes], nor stands [submissive and inactive] in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down [to relax and rest] where the scornful [and the mockers] gather." (Psalm 1:1, Amplified Bible)
I am reading through the Psalms this month in the Amplified Bible. I took particular note today of the phrase, "....nor stands [submissive and inactive]...." If a person is "inactive," he is, by the natural order of things, "submissive." An, "inactive," person is always, "submissive," to the active person. This is how the Bolsheviks took over Russia. This is how the National Socialists took over Germany. This is how the humanists have taken over The United States of America. The "active" always take over the, "inactive." Furthermore, if a person lives in a nation which has free elections and does not vote, that person is demonstrating to the world an inactivity which renders his/her life, and the life of that nation submissive to the forces of the Evil One. When the Church of a particular nation has been given the opportunity to shape the course of that nation, and does not do so, there will be "something" to pay at, "the Judgment Seat of Christ."
We all know the words of Peter to his fellow Followers of Christ Jesus in the First Century, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour," and, those whom he finally devours, are always the, "submissive and inactive." If you ever watched a predator in the wild, it always go for the old, the sick, the isolated first; they are easy prey. The prey which is healthy, alert, watchful, running with "the brethren," however, is usually the "one that gets away." Those who Follow, those who walk in Jesus Christ, are the spiritually healthy ones, the alert, the watchful. Any person claiming to be, "born again," and not living such is the most vulnerable. The kingdom of darkness already has those who do not follow Jesus; they are in his lair. It is you and I whom the enemy, "walks about.., seeking...." Beware, "submissive and inactive."
"Submissive and inactive," is the epitaph of the church-goer who leaves his religion in the pew as he goes out the door. "Submissive and inactive," describes the person who claims to be a Believer in Jesus, yet whose life style and life choices reflect, well, "the old way of doing things." "The Word of God," Jesus, is telling us today what He told the psalmist, "Blessed...is the man who walks and lives not...submissive and inactive....His delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night."
Father, in Jesus' Name, convict me every moment of any, "submissive and inactive." Amen.
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I will be participating in the Washington, DC, David's Tent, 24/7 worship/prayer/intercession for 5 days, September 18-22. The tent is located right outside the South Lawn of the White House.
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
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
