Righteousness

The more things change, the more things stay the same.    Today I was reading in II Chronicles 23-24.    Those chapters cover a lot of history and years of drama, but the most striking to me was how Zechariah (the son of the godly Priest Jehoiada) was slain in the courtyard of the Temple in Jerusalem.  Let’s look at this drama through modern day eyes.  Would we, today, drag a fellow believer into our church lobby and begin to murder him?  Well this is exactly what happened in II Chron. 24.  Zechariah was simply telling the people what God wanted them to hear.  We remember, of course, how unpopular prophets were and still are ; So much so that even Jesus refers to the stoning of prophets.

I am reminded today of how few people really stand up for righteousness.  When (if) they do, many of us immediately want to silence them.    Jesus said that when we are angry with our brother it is the same as murder.  And, therefore,  in my opinion, it is not a stretch to say that if someone is standing up for what is right in God’s eyes and we become angry at them, we have done the same to our brother as these people did to Zechariah.  We have (in God’s eyes) murdered them.  That’s pretty intense isn’t it?

We are reminded continually in scripture how necessary it is that, as our Savior speaks, we have salt in ourselves, that we walk in integrity, led by God’s Holy Spirit.  This will save us from the flattering, lying self serving tongues and ways of those who merely want to have the praise of men and (like the men in flowing robes referred to in Mark 12:38) and “be seen”.

Food for thought:
Have you murdered anyone lately?

1st Upload: Nov 4, 2009