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June 7
Morning
Hate evil, O you who love the LORD! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them from the hand of the wicked. — Ps 97:10 BSB
You have every reason to "hate evil," especially when you consider the harm it has already done to you. Think of all the damage sin has brought into your heart! Sin blinded you so that you couldn’t see the beauty of the Savior. It made you deaf to the gentle invitations of the Redeemer. Sin led you down the path of destruction and poisoned the very core of your being, corrupting your heart and making it “deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.” What a wretched state you were in before divine grace intervened! You were an heir of wrath like everyone else, running with the crowd toward evil. That’s how all of us were, but Paul reminds us, “You are washed, you are sanctified, you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”
Indeed, we have every reason to hate evil when we reflect on its deadly impact. Sin did us so much harm that we would have been lost forever had not God’s omnipotent love stepped in to save us. Even now, sin remains an active enemy, always seeking to harm us and drag us into destruction.
So, "hate evil," dear Christian, unless you want to invite trouble into your life. If you neglect to hate sin, you’ll scatter thorns along your path and fill your deathbed with anguish. But if you want to live a joyful life and die in peace, then walk in holiness and hate evil to the very end. If you truly love your Savior and want to honor Him, then "hate evil." The best cure for a Christian’s love of sin is abundant fellowship with the Lord Jesus. Spend much time with Him, and you’ll find it impossible to make peace with sin.
"Order my steps in Your Word,
And make my heart sincere;
Let no sin have dominion, Lord,
But keep my conscience clear."
Evening
Those I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent. — Rev 3:19 BSB
If you want to see souls converted, if you long to hear the cry that “the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord,” if you want to place crowns on the Savior’s head and see His throne lifted high, then be filled with zeal. For under God, the way to the world’s conversion is through the zeal of the church. Every other grace will accomplish great things, but zeal must lead the way. Prudence, knowledge, patience, and courage will all have their turn, but zeal must go first. It is not the extent of your knowledge, though that is valuable. It is not the breadth of your talents, though they are not to be disregarded. It is your zeal that will accomplish mighty works.
This zeal is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, drawing its life from the ongoing work of the Spirit in the soul. If our inner life is weak, if our hearts grow cold before God, then we will know little of zeal. But if our hearts are strong and vibrant, we cannot help but feel a loving urgency to see Christ’s kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
A deep sense of gratitude will fuel Christian zeal. When we look back at the pit from which we were rescued, we find every reason to spend ourselves for God. Zeal is also energized by thoughts of eternity. It looks down with tearful eyes at the flames of hell and cannot remain idle. It gazes upward at the glories of heaven and cannot help but stir itself. Zeal knows that time is short and the work is great, so it devotes everything it has to the cause of the Lord.
And it is always strengthened by remembering Christ’s example. He was clothed with zeal like a cloak. How swiftly He moved in His duties! He never lingered along the way. Let us prove that we are His disciples by showing the same spirit of zeal.