Pleasant Stone Devotional Meditation: February 13

"The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble" ~ Proverbs 4:19

Have you passed this proverb by, almost as thought it is nothing more than a warning to the wicked? Read it again. It among the most cutting of all the "clear stones". And it has directly to do with us as followers of Jesus Christ: with those of us who have been given His righteousness. It is a double-edged warning which most of us never notice. At least our behavior indicates that we don't notice it. Because how many times have you condemned someone who is not a Christian simply because he or she did not act in a Christian manner? Here is an illustration: A zealous, generous Christian man once testified that he was so tough on the men who worked for him because of their swearing that he heard one of them say, "Don't say that around Mr. .......... He'll give you h---! He's a Christian!" This dear misguided brother was pleased about that. He felt unconsciously superior. As I [Eugenia Price, the author] understand it, he believed somehow that unconverted men should not swear. He was a Christian. His sins had been forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ. He had been given a new nature. Of course he didn't swear anymore. But his attitude said: "These men shouldn't do it, either." And why wouldn't they do it? They were not Christians. God reminds us over and over that darkness is not light. How foolish to be surprised at a sinner who acts like a sinner. Does God not remind us that "the path of the just is as the shining light? We should be able to see! But doesn't God also warn us that we are to remember in our lack of love for sinners that "the way of the wicked is as darkness"?

"My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. For who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive?"