Walking, Standing, Sitting

           Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. (Psalm 1:1-2)

          I’m getting close to the end of Malta Exchange by Steve Berry. It seems to me to be his attempt at Dan Brown’s DaVinci Code. He does a better job than Mr. Brown, but he still presents an “all religion is a con job by those in charge of it” perspective, and he presents it as fact based on a document that actually exists, or which is like one that actually exists. As far as my (admittedly brief) research has uncovered, the text of his is quite different from the text of the historical one, and in any case, the historical one has been deemed a fraud. Unfortunately, those who don’t really know much about the Bible, and who fall for what he and the scholars on whom he undoubtedly relied, say will find themselves separated from God.

          That’s how easy it is – just read what the world says about God, the Bible, or Jesus Christ, and you can float away. It's so easy. This morning’s passage shares the means and ends of wearing the armor of God. If we delight in the law of the Lord, we will not be as easily separated from God, we will not walk in step with the wicked, stand in the way or sinners, or sit in the company of mockers.

          Years ago, someone pointed out the progression in this passage. One doesn’t start out being a wicked sinner and mocker. First, one walks with them. Walking is often used to as a metaphor for living, or living at peace with. If one is walking, however, it’s possibly temporary, or at least, it’s easier to turn and walk a different way.

When one is standing with sinners, it is taken as a more settled taking of sides. At the very least, it seems to involve spending more time, and being more comfortable with the presence. When one is sitting with them, one has effectively made himself/herself at home with them, and joined them.

          If I knew as little about Christianity as I know about, say, Rastafarianism, I might be tempted to believe books The DaVinci Code or The Maltese Exchange. I know some people who latched on to the former as truth. I know people who proudly announce that they are standing with sinners because they have a right to be treated as equals. I agree that they have equal rights, but that doesn’t mean they are right, but the people who do this have separated themselves from the whole of Scripture, holding on to a few cherry-picked verses that suit their needs.

          This is one of the reasons I tend to like to pick a book of the Bible for my blog and to work my way through it verse by verse or passage by passage. It makes it harder to ignore the pieces of God’s Word that aren’t popular today or are uncomfortable for me. It’s only by clinging to God’s Word that we can avoid getting off the path to Him.