“Abhor what is evil. Cling to what
is good.” -Romans 12:9
Abhor. There's a good old-fashioned
word we don't use much these days. What's the first word that comes
to mind when you start trying to define it? “Hate” is a very
likely option, or maybe “detest” is your synonym of choice. I
would say, though, that the meaning of the word stretches to involve
the concept of recoiling in horror at the sight of something
repulsive. When Job was covered in boils and sat in a filthy ash
heap, his friends “abhorred” him in his sorrowful state (Job
19:19).
This concept is quite the opposite of
the second verb in today's passage. “Cling” brings to my mind
the picture of a small child clutching his mother's leg in a crowded
room as he stares with fear at the strangers looming above him.
Perhaps you think of a car crash casualty or somebody fighting cancer
in a hospital bed, clinging to life. Either way, the term indicates
a desperate desire to hold onto something or someone- a fear of
losing what is dear to you.
There are certain things in life that
we naturally abhor, and there are those to which we cling. If you're
like me, you abhor snakes and spiders (at least in a small sense).
Maybe you abhor people who commit heinous, unspeakable crimes. More
than likely, you cling to your family and closest friends. What are
the guidelines given here for these two contrasting attitudes? It's
very simple: abhor what is evil, and cling to what is good. The
challenge lies in determining which parts of our lives and of the
world fall into which category.
As an example, consider money. With
money comes the ability to provide the necessities of life for
yourself and those you care about. Money allows us to tend to the
needs of others, and to further God's ministry. Money, in and of
itself, is not an evil thing. However, read 1 Timothy 6:10, which
begins, “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil...”
(NASB) This is often misquoted as telling us that money itself is
the root of all evil, but what we learn from this verse is that when
money becomes something that we cling to, then much evil comes of it.
When this happens, we are living in direct disobedience to Romans
12:9, for we are clinging to what is evil. If that happens, we must
learn to abhor our greed and cling to selflessness. By God's grace
and strength, we can overcome our human flaws, and when we set our
attitudes in line with Paul's writing here in Romans, our Father will
mold us into His image as our desires become more like His.
The Bible is full of verses informing
us on what is good and what is evil. We know now what it means to
abhor something, and what it means to cling. I challenge you this
week to let the Spirit convict you of temptations, thoughts, habits,
and any other aspects of your life which you need to abhor, and to
identify those things which are good in the eyes of a holy and
righteous God. Those are the things that you and I need to take firm
hold of, and my prayer is that we will daily develop a stronger grip.
Your brother in Christ,
-Jeremy
-Written November 27, 2011-
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