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.
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