Do Right
Jerry Watts
Colossians 3:17-4:1
Every time I read this text or Ephesians 5 or even 1 Peter 3, I am reminded that our Lord has both a path and a plan for each of us. In the Old Testament (Jer 29:11) God says, ''I know that plans I have for you, plans for wholeness (your welfare, to prosper you, to give you peace) and not for evil or calamity, to give you a future and a hope.'' God's design and desire is to give us, those who are His redeemed, born again children, more than we can ever imagine. However, to grant us His favor God has a set expectation and conditions.
I never ceased to be amazed at people who say, ''It'll all work out like God wants it to.'' And while it is true that Sovereign God can do whatever He wants in whatever way He desires, it is equally true that, throughout His word, He lays forth conditions to which we expects His children to adhere. ''IF'' is a big word in the Bible (used in one form or another closed to 1700 times). And the context from God is almost always, ''If'' you do what I say, ''THEN'' my blessing will be granted, but ''IF'' not - ''THEN'' not.
To believe that 'It will all work out like God wants it to' is to relieve self of any responsibility because if this is true, God is orchestrating all we do and say to such an extreme that we can never make a mistake. After all, how can it be a mistake if 'whatever we do' is God's will? But make no mistake, God is both sovereign enough and powerful enough to micro-manage our lives in this way, if He were to choose to do so. The deal is, ''He breathed into the first man the breath of life and transformed him into a living soul.'' Mankind is different from all other life because we have the cognitive ability to choose - more specifically to choose right from wrong. And it is Jehovah God who determines right, He calls and commands us to do right and our text tells us what and why.
So why should I (you) do right? Three reasons can be lifted from our text;
Because of w ...
Jerry Watts
Colossians 3:17-4:1
Every time I read this text or Ephesians 5 or even 1 Peter 3, I am reminded that our Lord has both a path and a plan for each of us. In the Old Testament (Jer 29:11) God says, ''I know that plans I have for you, plans for wholeness (your welfare, to prosper you, to give you peace) and not for evil or calamity, to give you a future and a hope.'' God's design and desire is to give us, those who are His redeemed, born again children, more than we can ever imagine. However, to grant us His favor God has a set expectation and conditions.
I never ceased to be amazed at people who say, ''It'll all work out like God wants it to.'' And while it is true that Sovereign God can do whatever He wants in whatever way He desires, it is equally true that, throughout His word, He lays forth conditions to which we expects His children to adhere. ''IF'' is a big word in the Bible (used in one form or another closed to 1700 times). And the context from God is almost always, ''If'' you do what I say, ''THEN'' my blessing will be granted, but ''IF'' not - ''THEN'' not.
To believe that 'It will all work out like God wants it to' is to relieve self of any responsibility because if this is true, God is orchestrating all we do and say to such an extreme that we can never make a mistake. After all, how can it be a mistake if 'whatever we do' is God's will? But make no mistake, God is both sovereign enough and powerful enough to micro-manage our lives in this way, if He were to choose to do so. The deal is, ''He breathed into the first man the breath of life and transformed him into a living soul.'' Mankind is different from all other life because we have the cognitive ability to choose - more specifically to choose right from wrong. And it is Jehovah God who determines right, He calls and commands us to do right and our text tells us what and why.
So why should I (you) do right? Three reasons can be lifted from our text;
Because of w ...
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