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Monday, November 28, 2011

God's Lists

 I love it when God makes it easy for us.  Not necessarily easy in living the Christian life but easy from the standpoint that He gives us lists of things not to do and to watch out for.  Here is a list that I found in Proverbs today.
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Proverbs 6:16-19(NKJV)
16    These six things the Lord hates,      Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
17    A proud look,     A lying tongue,     Hands that shed innocent blood,
18    A heart that devises wicked plans,     Feet that are swift in running to evil,
19    A false witness who speaks lies,     And one who sows discord among brethren.
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So first off look at the first line.  These aren't just things that God dislikes, these are things that He actually hates!  He finds these things abominable.  Let's take a look at a couple of definitions. 
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hate
verb (used with object)
  1. to dislike intensely or passionately; feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward; detest: to hate the enemy; to hate bigotry.
  1.  to be unwilling; dislike: I hate to do it.


a·bom·i·na·ble
adjective
  1. repugnantly hateful; detestable; loathsome: an abominable crime.
   2.    very unpleasant; disagreeable: The weather was abominable last week.
   3.    very bad, poor, or inferior: They have abominable taste in clothes.

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As you can see, both words describe extreme feelings of dislike.  So if we want to please God, wouldn’t it make sense to avoid doing things that He especially hates?  Now let's take a look at the list.

A lying tongue-yep that makes sense.  Hands that shed innocent blood-makes sense to me.  A heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, one who sows discord-check, check, and double check.  I can see why God would hate all of those things.  But what was the first one?  A proud look!

Huh?  How can that be?  How can a proud look be as bad as all of those other things? 

I think it comes down to what Pastor Jeff was talking about this weekend.  Pride goeth before the fall.  The biggest weakness we have as humans is pride because it leads us to almost all other sins.

This is what I love about the Bible.  As we passionately seek God's word little meanings like this are revealed.  So if you want to draw closer to God, passionately seek His wisdom and I think you'll be amazed at the blessings you receive. 

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