The Bible says in Hosea 5:15,
“Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the gate.”
Here, ladies and gentlemen is the prescription to cure every ill in America. Every moral disorder in the individual’s life, the family’s life, the church’s life, as well as the local, state, and national life, would be cured with a simple obedience to this word in the Scripture. Is your life a mess? This will fix it. Is your home a wreck? This will repair it. Is your church disordered? This will restore God’s order, and thus, His flow of power.
The first thing the Bible says here is, “Hate evil…”. Noah Webster defined evil as, “…any deviation of a moral agent from the rules of conduct prescribed to him by God…”. Anything we do outside the order of God is evil. All evil is rooted in the heart of man because of our sin in the Garden of Eden. It is passed from generation to generation in the human heart. The Bible says, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23). We are to hate evil. We are to hate pride; which is that attitude that makes us think we don’t need God. We are to hate the idea that material things will make us happy and fill the vacuum that’s down inside all of us. We are to hate the attitude that makes us feel we’re better than someone else. We are to “hate evil”. This is the first step in turning to God and His way of living. It’s what the Bible calls repentance.
Secondly, we are to “love good”. Webster defined good as: “… actions which are just and in conformity to the…divine precepts.” If we would choose to “love good” we would choose to admit that, without Jesus Christ living inside us, we can never be in this world what we were created to be. He told us that He was “…the way, the truth, and the life…” (John 14:6) Life without Him is meaningless: But with Him living inside us, life takes on the meaning we’ve always known it should have. When He’s inside us, releasing His love through us, we look at others as His creations. That makes them just as valuable as we are. We stop trying to get ahead of others, and start trying to help them realize He has a good plan for their lives also. We get freed from having to prove we’re worthwhile. We just know we are. That freedom allows us to encourage others, instead of thinking we have to always stay ahead of others. This is the life of liberty!
Lastly, the Bible tells us here to: “Establish justice in the gate…” The word gate here is a reference to where the government servants met to make laws and judge complaints one person had against another; in other words “the gate” referred to here is a reference to government actions. Revival will bring about the establishing of “justice” in government; first at the local level, then at the state level, and then at the national level. What is justice? Webster defines it as “giving to everyone what is his due.” That means no matter what the crime, give the criminal the punishment the Bible teaches. No matter who the person is; rich, poor, known, unknown, whatever people group they belong to, give them what they deserve. Likewise, the same is true of those who are innocent. Give them the liberty they deserve! If government servants would enact and enforce these types of laws, order would return to our fragmented society; and with it---PEACE!
Reckon we could straighten out America’s mess if we just returned to living the simple life the Bible teaches?
Think about it; because if you don’t, someone else will do your thinking for you---
and for your children! And you won’t like what that brings to you. I’m Don Pinson this has been Think About It.