Greetings and happy Sabbath!  I hope these past couple of days you've been able to enjoy the sunshine.  It's still a bit chilly, but as long as the sun is shining, I always feel better.

If you haven't already, please begin reading the next three chapters of the New Covenant: Does It Abolish God's Law?  They are titled, 'The High Priest Essential to Salvation,' 'Circumcision vs. a "New Creation" in Christ,' and 'The Justice and Judgement of God.'  The next round of booklet discussions will be on March 11th in Columbia and March 18th for Charlotte and Hickory.

Would you recognize it if you saw it?

The Bible warns generally on avoiding wickedness.  This seems like a no-brainer and easy to do.  Don't perform human sacrifices, consult evil spirits, deal with sorcerers, etc.  All pretty easy to avoid.  The problem of course isn't in avoiding those things which are obviously wicked.  It's the little stuff, like getting angry at your neighbor for mowing their lawn at 8 AM on Sabbath mornings.  Try as we might to justify it, our anger is wickedness.

Wickedness - small or great - is not tolerated by God.  Note Revelation 21:8 (NKJV), "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." Did I read that right???!!! Cowardly behavior is grounds for the second death??? That's what scripture says.  So it would seem the definition of wickedness is a bit broader than what we might first think.

What to do about it

The answer is obvious - we must recognize it and eliminate it.  But how? Knowing and understanding God's laws are a good start.  But knowing them and obeying them to the letter is not the be-all, end-all of avoiding wickedness.  

In order to truly recognize and avoid wickedness, we must be constantly striving to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord (Matthew 4:4).  Knowing the truth is one thing.  Living it is an entirely other, AND the key to avoiding wickedness.

Human frailty

None of us are perfect.  We all make mistakes and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).  But by holding ourselves accountable to a higher standard - not just knowing, but living God's law - we can make great strides in avoiding wicked behavior.

Let the pursuit of truth be what drives us.  And let living the truth be what we are, rather than an encyclopedia of DO's and DONT's.  When we make the effort to live truth every day, there will be no place for wickedness to creep in!

Bible Trivia Question of the week

Starting this week, I'm adding a new component to my weekly letter - a little Bible trivia!  The question is not necessarily related to the letter or upcoming sermon, just a random bit of trivia for fun.

Our first trivia question is, whose blood was washed out of the floorboard of a chariot so that dogs could lick it up, thus fulfilling prophecy?