Bible Society of South Africa
Benescke Janse van Rensburg

Still I will – Day 14

Still I will choose to stay in Your light

Bible text(s)

Ephesians 4

26If you become angry, do not let your anger lead you into sin, and do not stay angry all day. 27Don't give the Devil a chance.

Ephesians 4:26-27GNBOpen in Bible reader

Proverbs 4

23Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.

Proverbs 4:23GNBOpen in Bible reader

Psalms 139

23Examine me, O God, and know my mind;

test me, and discover my thoughts.

24Find out if there is any evil in me

and guide me in the everlasting way.

Psalms 139:23-24GNBOpen in Bible reader

1 Thessalonians 5

19Do not restrain the Holy Spirit;

1 Thessalonians 5:19GNBOpen in Bible reader

1 Thessalonians 5

22and avoid every kind of evil.

23May the God who gives us peace make you holy in every way and keep your whole being — spirit, soul, and body — free from every fault at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5:22-23GNBOpen in Bible reader

Jeremy and Jason Holden, twins from Hollywood, decided to teach bike thieves in their city a lesson. With smart wiring on the bike, a remote control and a hidden camera, they took to the streets. They placed the unlocked bike against a lamppost in the street as “bait” to attract possible thieves.

Time and time again, someone walked by, saw that there was no lock on the bike, and took it. The moment of surprise came when the thief sat on the bicycle saddle. The twins, via the remote control, gave the thief an electric shock. The response was hilarious. One of the thieves got such a fright, that he almost drove straight into a nearby tree.

God is Light and we, therefore, in every aspect of our lives, have to strive toward living in the Light. If we don’t, we unknowingly get onto the enemy’s “bike” that he places in our lives as bait to cause us further pain and destruction. In Ephesians 4:26-27 we read: “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.”

How do we get on the enemy’s “bicycle”? We do it by engaging in gossip, instead of stopping it; by choosing to repay evil with evil instead of forgiving and showing grace; by becoming impatient with our loved ones; by allowing our hearts to be filled with jealousy, deceit, slander and lust, instead of running from it (Romans 1:29-31); or by giving up our integrity in doing something that is not in line with God’s perfect will.

In Proverbs 4:23 we read: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” The psalmist understood this and therefore prayed in Psalm 139:23-24: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” In 1 Thessalonians 5:19,22-23 we also read: “Do not quench the Spirit … hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Think for a moment about your own life. Have you consciously or unconsciously given a foothold for the enemy? Are you perhaps already experiencing the enemy’s “shocks” because of it? Let’s jump off the bike, throw it aside and run away from anything that separates us from the presence of God. And let us ask God to enable us, through his Holy Spirit, to live a blameless life before him. God bless.

Bible Society of South Africav.4.24.4
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