“For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile. 11. Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace and ensue (pursue) it. 12. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” (Quote from Psalm 34:12-16.)
To make a long story short, if we want to enjoy life (see good days) our lives will please God, for “the face of the Lord is against them who do evil.” Evil causes us to live out of harmony with God and with each other. Peter tells us, quoting from Psalm 34, how we can live in harmony and enjoy life. First, he tells us we will have to watch our tongues. I know that immediately our minds turn to swearing. This is far more than just not using swear words. I think that it means to watch our tongues about how we talk about people. This means that we will be careful what we say to, or about, other people. Also, our “lips…should speak no guile.” This means that we will not use deceitful words about people. Actually, we would really say that we should not lie to or about other people. If we want to live happy Christian lives, we will watch our tongues. Second, he tell us that we will have to watch our actions: “Let him eschew (refuse, turn away from) evil, and do good.” Simply, we are to stay away sin and move toward that which is good. Simpler still, if something is obviously wrong, we just should not do it. I guess we would call this being “squeaky clean.” It is very important that Christians do what is good in their daily lives, in business dealings, and in relationships with other people. This is particularly important in our dealings with fellow church members. If we want to live happy Christian lives, we will watch our actions. Third, he tells us that we have to “seek peace and pursue it.” We are not to just seek to be peaceful, we are to “go after it,” as we would say today. If we watch our tongues and actions, we will probably be peaceful, and the Christian people around us will be at peace with us. In your relationships at home, at church, or at work, do you seek peace and pursue it? When we live like this, we are promised that: “The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” This actually sums up all three of these articles about living in harmony. Bro. Joe
2 Comments
Linda Brooks
6/23/2016 08:13:03 pm
Thank you for reminding us to SEEK peace and PURSUE it......AND our actions and tongues are the reasons for NO peace !
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Chip
6/24/2016 07:57:35 am
Thanks.
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