Tuesday of week 17 in Ordinary Time




Jeremiah 14:17-22

Psalm 78(79):8-9,11,13

Matthew 13:36-43



Order our footsteps by your Word, O Lord, and by your grace may we keep our conscience clear. Our hope lies in you!




If God wishes, he could just sigh with anger over the evil deeds of men, and with his command, the whole universe would fade away at one instance. Was it that necessary to keep humans alive thus far, a man who is wicked and sinful in heart and deeds? With the domination of darkness and evil that covers the face of the earth, no one would wait for that long if he were God. 



So the question is why is God so patient and compassionate with such a wicked world with so much evil lurking around every here and there? The answer is God is love. The Lord is so good to us. He is kind and full of compassion. He is a loving Father who cares for his children. If it were men, the world would have been over by now. God is patient with us and can never be misled. His patience is a sign of his infinite love and mercy.



This is a good reason why we have to hate evil if we can only consider what harm it has already wrought upon us. Oh, what a world of mischief sin has brought into our hearts! Sin has blinded us so that we could no longer see the beauty of the Saviour; it made us deaf so that we would not hear the Redeemer’s tender invitation. 



Sin turned our feet into the way of death, and poured poison into the very fountain of our being; it tainted our hearts, and made it “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” We have good reason, indeed, for hating evil when we look back and trace its deadly workings. Such mischief did evil do us, that our souls would have been lost if not for the omnipotent love that interfered to redeem us. Even now sin is still an active enemy, lingering around to do us hurt, and to drag us to perdition. 



Therefore “hate evil,” O Christians, unless you desire trouble. If you would strew your path with thorns, and plant nettles in your death pillow, then neglect to “hate evil:” but if you would live a happy life, and die a peaceful death, then walk in all the ways of holiness, hating evil, even to the end. Dwell much with the Lord and you can't be at peace with sin. 


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