May 19, 2016 (Thursday)
“I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me” (Romans 7:21 KJV).
I find this principle at work in many things. For instance, Email was given to us as a good thing; hackers have created viruses, which is a bad thing. Doing good, discovering evil.
I get a new car that has all the new safety features. That’s good. I decide to drink and drive. That’s bad. Good is present; so is evil.
I sit down to a wonderful meal. That’s good. I eat too much. That’s bad. Doing good, but evil is present.
That’s the law. It’s been around ever since the Garden of Eden.
We have choices. We make choices every day. Sometimes we choose the good, ever mindful that we could have chosen the bad.
Immediately there comes to my mind an event that took place many generations ago. Joshua had become the new leader of God’s people. He said to them: “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15 KJV).
The choice is yours. Jesus spoke of such a choice and said this: “”No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24 NIV). There’s the choice: God or money. Good or evil. The choice is yours.
Pilate had a choice: either free Jesus or crucify him. Before choosing, he asked, “What shall I do with Jesus?” What a question! What a choice. He made the wrong choice. He washed his hands in front of the crowd calling for crucifixion. He hoped he would be absolved of the the responsibility of making a choice. Legend has it that Pilate walks to and fro in Hell, forever washing his hands, mumbling “I am innocent of his blood.”
When you would do good, evil is present. You decide. What choices are you making?