Title: To those who walk honestly
Contents
title ; to the upright
main text ; Psalm 84:11
There is such a famous story in China. One day, the king took a test to choose the loyalties to be closest to him. The king gave all the candidates a pot with seeds of a rare type of flower tree, and told them not to mix them with other seeds and to grow them beautifully.
They each brought flower seeds, watered and nurtured them. However, one of the ministers watered it every day and took good care of it, but it did not sprout at all.
Finally, the deadline came as ordered by the king, and all the servants brought flowerpots with beautiful flowers, but this servant only brought empty flowerpots. The king was inspecting the flowerpots and asked the servant who had brought an empty flowerpot.
"Why did you kill the pretty flowers without growing them and bring only empty flowerpots?" "I'm sorry. I did my best, but it didn't sprout, so I was forced to die, and I came here as it is."
Then the king said in front of all his servants: "All the flower seeds I gave you were dead flower seeds. That's why the flowers stopped blooming. But, except for this one person, all other flower seeds were planted and made to flower. The only person who truly obeys my words and is honest is this one. none"
In other words, the other servants acted falsely in order to impress the king, or because they were afraid of the king, or for fear of damaging their honor or position. you acted right.
In the end, the king executed the false servants who deceived him, and the honest servant made the king a close vassal.
What do you guys think about 'honesty'?
Many people these days think of the word 'honesty' as outdated or as a worthless Paleolithic artifact or ornament.
And they treat honest people as fools, point their fingers at those who cry out for honesty, and think of them as outdated stragglers or old-fashioned teachers. And preaching about honesty today doesn't seem to be a very interesting topic for the saints.
Ladies and gentlemen, in today's society, there are a lot of people who think that being honest is a loss. According to a survey conducted by a parent institution in Korea not long ago, 73% of those who think that honesty is a loss.
Many parents want their children to be 'smart and clever kids' rather than 'good and honest kids'. Because people believe that being honest in our society cannot make a difference.
As a result, cheating, conspiracy, and bribery are dominating Korean society. Even though 1 in 4 people are Christians, Korean society carries the name of 'corruption republic' not very honorable.
But guys, think about it. Can't we succeed if we live honestly and without lies? Is living a good and honest life an act of fools who live at a loss? Is an honest Christian an outdated fool?
There is an English proverb that says: "If you want to be happy for one day, go to the barbershop. If you want to be happy for one week, get married. If you want to be happy for one month, buy a horse. If you want to be happy for about a year, buy a house. But if you want to be happy for the rest of your life, be an honest human being."
There is also this saying: "Make honesty and sincerity your friend, no matter how close you are, they will not help you as much as the honesty and sincerity that come from you."
Everyone, "Honesty is the best policy !" Have you ever heard the saying, "Honesty is the best policy!"? When you are faced with a complex situation and don't know how to behave, and the best way to get through it is to be honest.
Of course, being honest seems to cause loss right away, and it may result in loss of honor or position. Therefore, honesty is sometimes seen as a foolish act to those who only look at the reality in front of them.
Even among Christians, the word honesty doesn't seem to be very welcome. But honesty never disappoints us. Rather, honesty gives us the greatest happiness and the ultimate victory.
Gentlemen, the God we believe in is an honest God, and the devil is the father of lies. The fruits of those who receive the Spirit of God and correctly believe in God are honesty, and the fruits of those who receive the spirit of the devil and destroy the kingdom of God are lies and trickery.
God wants us to believe in God with an honest heart, never a false believer who deceives himself, deceives his conscience, deceives God according to circumstances.
Regarding this, the Bible says:
?쏷he LORD is righteous, and he delights in what is right; the upright will see his face??(Psalm 11:7).
?쏷he teachings of the Lord are upright and rejoice in the heart; the commandments of the Lord are pure and open the eyes??(Psalm 19:8).
?쏷he LORD is good and upright; therefore he will instruct sinners in his way??(Psalm 25:8).
?쏷he Lord God is a shield and a shield; for the Lord gives grace and glory, and will not spare any good from the upright??(Psalm 84:11).
Everyone, haven't you felt that "Canadians here are much more honest than Koreans" when you came to Canada? Although the technology to make cars, computers, and other things is not as good as Korea's, most Canadians here think that they are much more honest than Koreans.
Living here in Canada, I've never seen, and I've never been asked to, a school or public institution with such dishonest bribe envelopes coming and going in Korea. Isn't this the difference between developed and underdeveloped countries?
In the advanced countries, honesty dominates their society, and in the underdeveloped countries, lies and conspiracy rule their society. The figures presented by developed countries are almost accurate, and there is a social atmosphere that most agrees with them, but as we move into developing countries, the figures presented by them are not only inaccurate, but no one wants to trust them.
Developed and underdeveloped countries can be distinguished by how much honesty and accuracy are guaranteed. Likewise, the distinction between believing in God rightly and believing God wrongly is determined by honesty.
Gentlemen, honesty means being honest with yourself as well as others, and not deceiving yourself and others. Furthermore, honesty means not deceiving the conscience and not deceiving God.
We believe in the God who blesses the honest. There are many verses in the Bible that God blessed the kings of Israel for doing what was right in the sight of the Lord.
And God gives these promises to the honest.
?쏷he Lord has sowed joy for the upright??(Psalm 97:11) ?쏝lessed be the hospitality of the upright??(Psalm 112:2).
?쏷o the upright there arises light out of darkness; he is kind, merciful, and righteous??(Psalm 112:4).
?쏤or the upright dwell in the earth??(Proverbs 2:21).
?쏷he upright shall dwell before you??(Psalm 140:13).
?쏤or the rebellious are an abomination to the LORD, but the upright have fellowship with him??(Proverbs 3:32).
?쏷he faithfulness of the upright guides them, but the rebellion of the wicked destroys them??(Proverbs 11:3).
?쏷he upright will be saved by their righteousness, but the wicked will be caught up in their wickedness??(Proverbs 11:6).
?쏛 city prospers at the blessing of the upright, but falls at the mouth of the wicked??(Proverbs 11:11).
?쏷he house of the wicked will perish, but the tabernacle of the upright will prosper??(Proverbs 14:11).
Another story about honesty.
One day the angel Gabriel was called before God. God said to the angel Gabriel, "Go and find a worker whom I will entrust to you."
So the angel went here and there to find and investigate the workers, then returned to God and reported this. ?쏥od, I have checked all the workers, which one do you prefer? One is very smart and capable but lacks integrity. The second is a little foolish and stupid, but honest and sincere.??
Then God said, "Bring a man who is smart and capable, but not a deceitful and deceitful man, but an honest man who is foolish. I will also give him wisdom and talent."
Folks, the stupid but honest and sincere person wins in the end rather than the smart but untruthful person. Because God uses and blesses honest people.
Think about it. If you were a store owner, would you hire a good thief? Or would you like to hire honest employees?
Gentlemen, no matter how much the world ridicules honesty, and even if honesty sometimes harms us, believers in God must not abandon honesty. Honesty is the last stronghold that Christians must protect, the last pride, and the sign of the saints.
For Christians, when honesty collapses, the family collapses, the church collapses, and the country collapses. Even if there are hardships in maintaining honesty, we must keep our honesty to the end.
Ladies and gentlemen, if you accidentally fail to keep your honesty or fall into the place of lies by mistake or due to the circumstances of the last days, you must immediately throw away the lies and return to the bosom of honesty.
Like David, who confessed, "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew an honest spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10), we must pray for an honest spirit in God. And try to live honestly.
Guys, keep that in mind. Lies never bring us true happiness. The fruit of a lie seems sweet at first, but later it is so bitter and miserable.
But the fruits of honesty may seem bitter at first, but later lead us to eternal joy, peace, and happiness. Therefore, no matter how close the last days approach, we bless you in the name of the Lord that you will be the last victor as we will live together with honesty.