Devising Evil

Zechariah 7:10 & 8:17

do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.”

do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the LORD.”

It is good to reflect and remember, that like Jesus spoke of many times in His sermon on the mount (beginning in Matthew chapter 5), the line in the sand for sin and evil is far earlier than what we may say or do.

      … it is first in our head and hearts.

Twice in Zechariah, as noted above, we see the warning of divising (conceiving, imagining, inventing) - evil in our hearts. May we not take comfort that we are not sinning if we hold our tongue or withhold certain actions. We must realize even the churning in our hearts of hatred, bitterness, and contempt; the harsh conversations we privately rehearse in our head with those that hurt us or aggravate us - is sin.

So easily can we excuse our venting through imagination as innocent - and even admire our self control when we withhold all the evil in our hearts.

We must repent.

Yet … while we strive for living a life of practical holiness, this wickedness is something too that Christ came to die for on the cross. No thought so vile, is unable to be killed on the cross at Calvary.

Hate your sin - and take comfort in the cross!

His,

Matthew