The Watchman's Diary

All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats (Matt 25:32).

I have been considering the times when I didn’t speak up about something or when my presence somewhere gave a sense of approval to what is taking place. This world seems to cling to perception as reality; some even say that perception is reality. It is for reasons like this that I believe we christians should be mindful of our actions and inactions. If we ride the tide of popular thought and worldly trends, we must also be prepared to crash into a shore line and be brought low. God has set His boundaries in place and we are not exempt from them; our thoughts, words, and deeds have consequences and we must exercise our free will in a manner that is pleasing before God.

With so many things happening around the world and so many voices giving their “professional” opinions, it is easy to get caught up in political and social matters. It is easy to be swept away in the tide of opinions that have no basis on the word of God. It is time for christians to put away religion and denomination and really stand on His word. It is time for unity in the body of Christ.

Yet, I submit to you that what I am seeing is unity in division. The church is being divided as many walk away from the inherency of scripture and this is causing unity among the faithful. I have had to consider my own positioning; where I stand and what I believe and weigh them with what the word says. This I have to do daily because I do not profess to know all that is written nor do I still comprehend it all. So in prayer, by studying, and in fellowship I seek to know God’s will and make an effort to apply it to my life daily.

So to what have we submitted our approval by either not speaking up or by simply showing up? I don’t expect many to agree on this but our silence and or presence speaks a reality of approval to a world that is lost and tries to justify everything to satisfy itself. So as I consider where and how I can take a stand for right, based on the inherent word of God, I ask you to do the same.

I am reminded that we sometimes show up out of disapproval but often without a message of love and hope. We cannot stand in opposition to a lost world simply to condemn them with our words. We are not to judge but to love and to share the hope that is in Jesus. So as we stand on the word, and as we hold fast to our faith, let us do so in love and be ready to share the gospel with all who are drawn to it by the Holy Spirit.

Yet, we must stand. We must not let perception be reality but instead the reality of our faith must disarm perception and allow the light of Christ to shine through us. Let our actions be the proof of what we say with our lips and our lips say what we believe in our hearts. All this we must weigh in the scales of scripture. I pray this day that as we continually weigh our thoughts, words, and deeds that we will not be found wanting but that they will be found balanced in the scale of righteousness.

My prayer for myself and all of us is that we will not allow our silence to speak for what we know to be true and right but that we will speak the truth in love. That our presence will not be seen as neither approval nor judgement but that we will hold up the banner of 1 John 3:16, “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren”.