The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Highly Esteemed?"
God's evaluations greatly differ from our own.
"That which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God" (Luke 16:15).
As with all things, it is easy to look outward toward the errors of others when considering the native human tendency to value that which bears no worth and much harm. We do well to overcome this temptation, asking our Heavenly Father to focus on ourselves regarding the possibility that we may highly esteem that which He deems worthy of judgment and destruction. Who or what may I be unwisely viewing in positive terms, based on appearance, appeal, and faulty awareness? Who or what might I be erroneously perceiving as unworthy of esteem, but which actually finds favor with God? If I do not focus first on my own need for examination in this vital matter, I have no basis upon which to wonder about others. "Search me, o God" (Psalm 139:23; emphasis added).
The Lord's answers are not always easy in a world wherein ideas and images constantly present themselves to our hearts and minds. Moreover, our spiritual enemies constantly work to, as a young man once wisely said to me, "Make good things seem bad, and bad things seem good." The "seem" is the issue, isn't? Appearances often belie reality. The Apostle Paul starkly warned of such danger:
"Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light" (II Corinthians 11:14).
The most mature believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is, in and of himself, weak as water when confronted by the devil and his entities. Like the rest of us, he must constantly seek his Lord's confirmation of truth and correction of error in order to avoid deception. Our flesh easily flies toward abominations that appear as holy things, healthy things, happy things. "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Proverbs 16:25). This being the sad and treacherous case, we must seek our Lord and His truth as the preventative and corrective means whereby we ensure the esteeming of that which bears true virtue, while eschewing that which God indicts as abomination. "See if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:24).
Finally, note that the Lord Jesus refers to the human tendency to "highly esteem" that which deserves no such evaluation. Cherished thoughts, attitudes, practices, beliefs, and ways may well be of God and in accordance with with His glory and will. But they may not. We require an ongoing discourse with our Heavenly Father to confirm the former and correct the latter. He will gladly do the work of evaluation, leading us by His Word, His Spirit, His people, and His providence as He enables us to highly esteem that which is worthy of our respect and devotion, while decisively turning away from which He identifies as "the ways of death."
"I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with Mine eye."
(Psalm 32:8)
Weekly Memory Verse
My brethren, count it all joy when fall into diverse temptations, knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
(James 1:2-3)
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