Scripture

Psalms: 97, 99, & 94
OT: Jer. 17:19-27
NT: Rom. 7:13-25
Gospel: John 6:16-27

Reflection

When you love someone you begin to love what they love and dislike what they dislike. It’s a strange thing as you begin to see this happen within yourself. On the other hand, it’s really fun when you see it happening in your spouse. What’s interesting is that this is true within our relationship with God too. As we grow to love him we will begin to love more of what he loves and hate what he hates.

Psalm 97 closes with this admonition,

O you who love the LORD, hate evil!
He preserves the lives of his saints;
he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
Light is sown for the righteous,
and joy for the upright in heart.
Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous,
and give thanks to his holy name! (Psalm 97:10-12, ESV)

When we love the LORD we come to a place where we begin to hate evil. That’s an interesting place to be in our culture. Much of our culture and society celebrates what is evil. Have you noticed this?

A while back there was a push for people to watch, The Andy Griffith Show, because it supposedly portrayed good values and character. Yet, when you watch it closely you realize that in almost every episode Andy fixes the problem by lying. Is lying something to celebrate?

Or, consider much of what we watch on television. Many of the most popular shows celebrate the “anti-Hero.” These anti-heroes often take the long way around to come to something good. They typically do so via violence and subverting the law. The worldview that is pushed is one that communicates, “the ends justify the means.” But, do they?

The Christian is called to something different. We are reminded here that we are to love what God loves and hate what he hates. Our lives are to look different from our culture.

What might it look like for you to live a righteous life? How would that challenge the culture around you? What do you think God loves? How might you pursue that?