The Crooked From time to time we may be tempted to engage in shady practices. A little white lie, an exaggeration, omitting facts, making inferences, or how ever we choose to phrase it, ANY way of not telling or representing the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth… please help us God! Isaiah 40:4-5 says, “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.” Let’s think of the geographical areas that the Prophet Isaiah described, as areas of personal challenges that can hinder God’s glory from being revealed. An area of personal challenge that can hinder God’s glory from being revealed is the crooked, such as deceitfulness, dishonesty, you know the “shady,” behavior that may sometimes manifest in our lives. I like to break the word crooked into two words “crook” “ed”. I give ownership to “crook” by placing an “‘s,” and I think of “ed” as being short for education. So, in essence, I like to think of crooked as being any tendency that reflects a “crook’s ed.” The crook’s education could be below a preschool level such as telling a little white lie to a post-doctoral level such as committing a horrific crime. God desires for ALL the crooked areas in our lives to be made straight. He desires that we speak the truth, operate in honesty, and represent integrity. King David, the man after God’s own heart, said we should honor our word (swear and not change) even if it hurts us, or we don’t like the perceived outcome (Psalm 15:4). In other words, we should let our word indeed be our bond. A person of true integrity will always do the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do. We need to strive to make straight ALL the crooked areas of our lives. Whether it’s as minor as a little white lie, right up to something as major as the most horrific crime we could ever imagine. For it’s after the crooked is made straight that the glory of the Lord will be revealed in us… for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it! Name a crooked place that is easy to get into but hard to get out of. By Edythe A. Thomas, for The Heart of Ruth Ministries, 2013©
Posted on: Tue, 18 Jun 2013 01:50:40 +0000
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