I read this yesterday and realized again that what I say does not impact as much as who I am.
Truth is related to, "righteousness," not talk. The Interlinear says that the concept of, "wickedness/unrighteousness," has the idea of that which deceives. Frankly, society has place so much emphasis on words that deeds mean little or nothing anymore; hence the deception which follows. One can say all the 'right" things, teach and preach the "right" things, yet, "though I have faith to remove mountains," if I am not right, which is what, "righteousness," means, then my "faith," good deeds, and talk alike are worthless, or as 1 Corinthians 13 says, "nothing." 1 Corinthians says this; our text says this. Indeed, all of Sacred Writ proclaims this. This our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us so plainly.
One of my readings over the weekend also had me in Numbers, 22-24, the passage concerning Balaam. He has always been an enigma to me. Here was a guy who anyone would love to have prophesy over him/her. Consider all the great promises and "declarations" he made over Israel. But Jesus saw something in Balaam's heart. Israel too must have perceived this wickedness, because some time later they killed him. Balaam's name lives on throughout Israel's history as one who carried the curse, i.e., "wickedness," not in his words, but in his heart. Centuries later, Balaam appears again in one of Peter's Epistles. Speaking of the wicked, the Holy Spirit says "....They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor who loved the wages of unrighteousness."
There is a great caution sign here. What is inside me is who I am, not what others hear or see. Balaam said that he would only say what the Lord God gave him; he apparently did. We could even say that Balaam apparently "obeyed fully" what the Lord told him to say. But Balaam was a "wrong," or, "unrighteous[]/wicked[]," person. Jesus tells us that in, "the last days," this "Balaam spirit" will become more and more prevalent. Now I am not attempting to make you suspicious, doubting before testing. Yet whatever, "try the spirits," means, may Our Lord Jesus Christ grant us grace and mercy to so do.
Father, in Jesus' Name, have mercy on me, that I will not just say, but be. Amen.
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.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
