"Furthermore,
you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth,
those who hate dishonest gain; and you shall place these over them as
leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens. "Let
them judge the people at all times; and let it be that every major dispute they
will bring to you, but every minor dispute they themselves will judge. So it
will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you.
Insights: The
next two character traits of a qualified man to serve as a judge under Moses is
again attributes that ought to be common among every believer in Jesus
Christ. The first trait today is
integrity. The way Moses actually wrote
it was “men of truth”. A person of truth
is going to be a person of integrity.
Integrity is who you are when no one else is around watching you. If you are willing to live a life in
obedience to the Father when no one else is present, then you are one living a
life of integrity. If, on the other
hand, when you are alone you jump into every sinful vice of which you can
think, then you are not a person of integrity.
A person of integrity is going to be truthful no matter what it may cost
him or her. The second trait today is contempt
for sin. Moses wrote it this way, “Those
who hate dishonest gain.” He was
specifically describing one who was willing to take a bribe in order for a
ruling on a case to go a specific way.
The root issue at hand, however, is hatred toward sin. Was the judge one who had sufficient hatred
toward sin and a desire for righteousness that he could perform his service without
bias? The same is true for a
Christ-follower today. Beloved, we are
to be men and women who faithfully pursue Jesus and desire Him to transform our
lives through the purging process of sanctification. The result of such work is hatred toward
sin. Let me wrap up yesterday and today. As the Body of Christ, we need to make
certain the work load is properly readjusted so that every member of the Body
is performing the appropriate tasks based on their spiritual gift mix. As believers who have been forgiven such a
great sin debt we ought to have a proper fear of God because of His sovereignty. With these two adjustments made we ought to
be people of integrity who hate sin. I
pray these four attributes are true of your life.
Questions:
- Do you live a life of integrity?
- Do you hate sin like the Lord does?
Prayer: Father, I
falter so often in these two areas.
Forgive my evil ways and transform me into one who does live life above
reproach and has an intense hatred toward sin.
Purge my life from this evil. Amen.
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