13/02/2011 - Don’t punish these kinds of people!

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“Also, to punish the righteous is not good, nor to strike princes for their uprightness.” (Proverbs 17:26)

These are the two important kinds of people protected by God – people who will be avenged if they suffer any evil assault even by any of the leaders of His work: the upright and those who behave righteously.

The righteous is the one who accepted Jesus as their Savior and by doing so they were justified in the work that Christ did on the Calvary – those who do righteousness and fulfil the divine commandment which they learned in the Word of God. So, they might make a mistake but they go to the feet of the Lord and pour their heart out there till they receive forgiveness for their sin. They strive to fulfil everything they’re told and they rejoice with the victory of those who serve God whatever their church or denomination. It’s the Most High who keeps the righteous however little they might be.

Now those who act uprightly haven’t been born again, but they have respect for the Word and strive to fulfil the divine commandments. They also fear the Almighty God like Cornelius, the Roman centurion in Acts 10, and they’re waiting for someone like Peter, a very wise man sent by the Spirit of the Lord to go to their home to preach the Word to their family and them. They’re not completely enlightened by the Scriptures, but then they soon put into practice the lesson they’ve learned and they also repent after they’ve taken any attitude that doesn’t please God.

The upright might even slip and be about to fall for any temptation, but because they’re sensitive to the voice of God, they promptly repent and seek forgiveness in God. We must be merciful to them because the Lord walks by their side. They’re heirs of the promises made to Abraham – by the way, one of them is to bless those who bless them or to curse those who curse them. Light emerges from darkness for them and the Almighty God is their avenger. So, my brother, be careful when you hear rumours about the upright or when you’re being lured by someone to punish them! We can only take any attitude against the upright through prayer and in the fear of God.

The same goes for those who behave righteously. They might belong to a religion with standards different to the Gospel, but the fact that they have respect for the divine matters is good enough to warn princes not to curse them or to harass them or to punish them because there’s some little light in them. That light – which you feel in your heart – signals that the Spirit of the Lord is working in that life and anyone that goes against them will surely be in trouble even though they might be a leader in His work.

Now, even an ox which treads out the grain has got a right to eat from its work (Deuteronomy 25:4). So, do pay respect to those two kinds of people; after all, God’s righteous to all those who serve Him; even though it’s only with a glass of water to the little Christians.

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares