19/03/2011 - Six things not to do

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“Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.” (Romans 13: 13)
Delivered from the empire of darkness, we’ve got to walk in The Light. So, there are six steps we’ve got to pay heed to and never practice it in order for us to live the holiness of the Lord, which we have been called for. The barriers to be avoided are: revelry, drunkenness, dishonesty, immorality, strife and envy.
The moment we accept Jesus as our Saviour, the ruling of the empire of darkness over our lives is gone. The words of the apostle Paul in the verse mentioned above are paramount for us to walk righteously with our God. Being children of the Light, not of darkness, we need to take care of the way we behave in order for our Father to be glorified in us.
The apostle Paul didn’t write that just because he felt like doing so; he was being guided by the Most High. He makes a list of six barriers that might hamper our journey on the new and living Way. We’ll be holy if we watch out for them.
Revelry – Scientific progress, industrialization and our country’s financial improvement have both benefited and harmed our society. As people are keen to make more money, our citizens have become dependent on the chemical components which have been developed lately. Food industry has given birth to a great deal of sweets addicts. The result is catastrophic: obese people, diabetics and those who’ve got cancer, etc.
Drunkenness – Not all narcotics are banned. People are used to drinking whisky, beer, among other kinds of drink at lunch time, at celebrations or family get-togethers. As a result, there are too many addicts nowadays. Traffic accidents, for instance, caused by those narcotics have exterminated lives and mutilated people’s bodies. Besides, all kinds of transgression are being committed.
Dishonesty – Many are used to committing that kind of sin which goes from robbery, burglary, illegal confiscation, lower wages regarding the work market, gossiping, and even adultery which is a quite perverse way to make the betrayed spouse suffer, apart from devastating many people’s happiness.
Immorality – Those who are immoral live a life with no rules; they lack moral restraints in all senses, such as, for instance, the so called excess in the marital intimacy and when they’re having fun, as well as lack of respect for the Word of God.
Strife – Those who are born again should never quarrel. Even when we’re offended we mustn’t open our mouth to tip off the mistakes of those who’ve been offensive to us. A servant of God must never use the force of arguments, whatever the case, or even their physical strength to defend themselves or to make their rights worth. The best remedy is to hand all that in the righteous Judge’s hands.
Envy – In the Brazilian Almeida and Updated version of the Bible, that word has another synonym: jealous. A jealous spouse’s stating, in other words, that he or she doesn’t believe in the love and in the respect they share; yet, jealousy has never avoided treason or it’ll never do so. Those who envy someone else’s success, for instance, are following suit. It’s sad but it turns out that envy does occur within the work of the Lord which is hampered to evolve.
In Christ, with love,
R. R. Soares