Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“On the third day, when they were sore, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword, came upon the unsuspecting city, and killed all the males. They killed Hamor and Shechem, his son, with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went away. Jacob’s sons came on the dead, and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. They took their flocks, their herds, their donkeys, that which was in the city, that which was in the field, and all their wealth. They took captive all their little ones and their wives, and took as plunder everything that was in the house.“
(Genesis 34:25-29)

“They encourage themselves in evil plans. They talk about laying snares secretly. They say, “Who will see them?” They plot injustice, saying, “We have made a perfect plan!” Surely man’s mind and heart are cunning.“
(Psalm 64:5-6)

“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree corrupt and its fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by its fruit. You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The good man out of his good treasure brings out good things, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings out evil things. I tell you that every idle word that men speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
(Matthew 12:33-37)

Simon and Levi were offended by what had been done to their sister Dinah. They plotted and came up with a plan. They were deceitful and dishonest. And then they were violent because of their anger. Later it talks about how they were NEEDLESSLY violent. Hurting for the sake of hurt. These were wicked men. Yes, it went off without a hitch. Yes, they profited by it. Yes, they managed to ‘succeed’. But it took the favour of the Lord on Jacob for them to survive as a group because of this. It was NOT God’s will. It was an EVIL plan. God did NOT look kindly on it and there were consequences that were far-reaching (Genesis 49:5-7).

Jesus points people to those consequences. It isn’t just our actions that come into scrutiny, but our WORDS (Proverbs 18:21). Nothing is hidden. Everything will be out in the open sooner or later (Luke 12:2-3). We are called to live godly lives, not to revel in our evil ideas or our broken thinking. We are equipped by God to walk in His works and do good from His point of view. Anything else is error. Anything else is misstepping. Anything else is a BAD idea. This is not a joke and this isn’t a suggestion. We need to grow His fruit in our hearts. When we do, living godly is a natural consequence. When we lay ahold of God’s plans for us and learn to step where He says to step, everything is easier. Everything can be fed by the good fruit in our hearts, which will mean we will produce in line with His Word and His will.

Summary

Acting according to our own ideas is sin (Romans 14:23). We need to trust in Jesus whether we are in a good place or whether bad things are happening to or around us. No evil action is ever justified. Every action of ANY kind – even idle words – will be held to our account. We need to trust in Jesus in EVERY way and let Him guide us on the Way He has laid down. Without exception. It’s the way to experience abundant life.