The children of Israel prided themselves in being children of Abraham and were no slaves to anyone. Until the Lord Jesus smacks them with the truth right between the eyes. They carried on with the obvious fact of being children of Abraham, like most of us pride ourselves in our pedigree. They branded their status of being children of Abraham but never did the works of Abraham their father. Man in his deceitful heart has concluded that the end justifies the means. Being rich is all that matters but how I become rich does not matter is the way of man. Climbing to the top of the organizational ladder is all that matters but how I got there matters not. Attending religious programs and performing religious rites is all that matters but how I live day by day and what I do in between matters not. This is how most of us carry on with our lives but we know better now, that the means are as important as the end, the means qualify the end. To live under the notion that the end justifies the means is to live under presumption. David prayed in Psalm 19 verse 13: “Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not become my way of life “. How we live our lives matters, the means sanctifies the end.
Our Lord Jesus in Mathew 23 verse 19 asked a rhetorical question: “You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes it sacred”? It’s the same thing for the means and the end paradigm. If the altar is not well laid according to the given standards, its offering cannot be sanctified. If the means to the end is evil, the end is also evil for it is the means that justify the end and not the end justifying the means. In the message that our Lord Jesus gave to Apostle John on the scorecards of the churches in verse 1 of chapter 3 of the book of Revelation, the Lord said this concerning the church in Sardis: “…thou have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead”. Why is this so? Apostle Peter in 2 Peter chapter 2 verse 19 says: “…For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him”.
In Romans 6 verse 16 we are also made aware: “Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living”. Whatever you practice you are a servant of.
The church of Sardis lent themselves to practices that led to death since they had become slaves to such. This typifies most believers today, no more emphasis on righteous, holy living but on activities, our set goals, programs, and so on. They have the appearance and reputation of being alive but are dead. It is our righteous, holy living that sanctifies us not our being busy body.
How do we see and treat the word of God? Do we take the word of God as a law, a commandment that must be obeyed or do we cast it aside and see it only as a promise of blessings? If we take the word of God as a law, a commandment then our understanding and reverential attitude to God will be different. King David in Psalm 19 verse 11 says: “Moreover, by them (by the word of the LORD) is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. King David had great reverence for the word of the LORD and the reward of it was evident in his life as one of the most successful kings in Israel. Whatever we give ourselves continually to, to obey, becomes our master. Giving ourselves to the word of the LORD to practice it, that is obey it, deepens our devotion to God. In the gospel of Mathew and chapter 6 verse 24, our Lord Jesus said: ” No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money”. There is no middle of the road, whatever catches our devotion we become a slave to. As pointed out by Apostle Paul in his epistle to the Romans and every believer, before we knew and accepted Christ we were slaves to sin. In verse 16 of Romans chapter 6 we read: “Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living”.
For every believer in Christ, the end does not justify the means. Following religious rites and routines which, most people see as the end, cannot justify any ongoing careless living. Righteous living and righteous standards are how we must live because that’s what determines the end, the ultimate reward we shall receive for all our works whilst in this earthly tabernacle. The end is not the attainment of our earthly desires such as wealth, career and political success, and other earthly goals we set for ourselves, the real end is the reward we receive at the end of our earthly life. This reward is irreversible and it is for eternity. As we have been admonished in Romans chapter 12 verses 2 and 3, we are not to be conformed to the standard of the world but we are to be renewed in our minds as this determines what we yield ourselves to. What we practice continually, what we yield ourselves to obey continually, we become a slave to. It could be habits, substance abuse, the pursuit of money, ambition, the quest for power, association, and any such thing that demands our devotion apart from God. We must be circumspect and be as wise virgins.
To be wise virgins is to acknowledge and uphold the truth. Buy the truth and sell it not that is, do not compromise or diminish it, the scripture enjoins us in Proverbs chapter 23 verse 23. We know now that the end is not our earthly attainment of goals but the reward for our earthly deeds. This call for a turnaround, a repentance to follow the right standards of living. When John the Baptist called people to repentance, they came to him asking what they must do in the gospel of Luke chapter 3. John the Baptist’s treatise is apt for us today. In verse 11 of Luke chapter 3 we read John declaring: “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” To the tax collectors, he declared: “Don’t collect any more than you are required to”. Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages”. This principle of righteous living and righteous standards should pervade all areas of our earthly endeavor and not take advantage of others in our earthly quest which has ultimate heavenly rewards.
