EVIL OR RIGHTEOUS IN THE EYES OF OUR LORD
He did evil in the eyes of the Lord… —II Kings 13:2
He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord… —II Kings 14:3
The Lord loves the righteous. —Psalm 146:8
Brothers and sisters, fellow followers/disciples of Jesus, “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good” (Romans 12:9). How does our Lord see you? “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13). Praise God that He does not look at a snapshot of our lives and condemn us for that one picture of failure. No, He looks at our life as a whole. That is why Abraham “was called God’s friend.” Why was he called God’s friend? Because “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (James 2:23). This does not mean that Abraham did not sin and fail, no, but as God looked at the video tape of Abraham’s life, this was His conclusion. Abraham was considered righteous in God’s sight. His desire was to do “what was right in the eyes of the Lord” and yet he did not always do what was right.
This was true of David of whom God said, “I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do” (Acts 13:22). Now, David had snapshots in his life of failure, of sin, but the video of his life is seen as one of obedience. Yet, David had sinned greatly against our Lord and people at times. Again, praise God that He does not judge us on snapshots of failure in our lives, but by the videotape of our overall lives. That is what He will look at to acknowledge our faithfulness to Him and not be judged for the snapshots of our sinful failures. He has already taken the judgment for our sin and has given us God’s righteousness through belief, just as Abraham (Romans chapter 4).
Those who have believed and have called on Jesus are righteous and our Lord loves the righteous. Their overall lives, the video of their lives, will be filled with doing what is right in our Lord’s sight. There will be sinful failures as well, but the finished work of Jesus has edited those out. Praise God for His awesome loving kindness toward us. The love of God is truly not fully comprehensible to us. God’s Word, written through Paul, says
“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” —Ephesians 3:16-21
Dear Father, how can I not seek to live faithfully obedient to Your desires after knowing what Jesus has done for me. Oh, may I do so by the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Your Son Jesus. Yes, may this be so and all for Your honor and glory and the benefit for many others! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkA3C5KbzEc&list=RDYkA3C5KbzEc&start_radio=1