Who Matters Most?
"Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be
revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness,
that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the
housetops. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill
the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in
hell."
Matthew 10:26-28
I read about a young military recruit who was marching with his unit in a
parade. When they stopped and were supposed to be standing at attention, he
started waving to the watching crowd. A drill sergeant quickly appeared and
told him, "Jones, don't ever do that again!" But a few moments later the
private was waving again. When the unit finished their march, the livid
sergeant began to yell and scream at young Jones. He described the vital
importance of maintaining discipline and following orders. He explained in
detail all the ways in which he could make the young soldier's life
miserable. Finally he asked, "Jones, don't you know what I can do to you?"
"Oh yes sir," Jones replied, "But you don't know what my mother can do to
me!"
There are churches and Christians who determine what is right and wrong
based on the opinions of others. Rather than first studying God's Word and
then proclaiming it's truth, they first study what people want and try to
fit cultural ideals into Scripture. They abandon truth to avoid criticism.
Such actions indicate a misplaced fear. Rather than fearing the opinions of
men whose judgment is corrupted by sin, we should fear the righteous
evaluation of a high and holy God, and order our lives accordingly. The
disapproval of those around us matters little if God is pleased by our
actions. His watchful eyes should always be kept in mind as we go about our
daily lives, and we should seek His approval above all else.
We need a renewed sense of the awesome holiness of God and His hatred for
sin in our lives.
