The acts of the flesh are obvious: feet that are quick to rush to evil, false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.
These are the closing words of Proverbs 6:16-19
Today in our touring we are in Acapulco, Mexico and taking a quick look at this, one of the most popular within the country. And as of this writing all seems to be well with us and I trust also with you who may have chosen to continue reading these, my last of the devotional writings.
Happily, tomorrow we can begin, for the rest of our devotional journey, to look at the fruits of the Spirit which require for one to possess the presence of the Spirit within his life. In addition to that, as a personally known fact, the Spirit must not be quenched, resisted, lied to or grieved.
A person whose life is tangled up with affairs with which he ought not to be might inadvertently allow himself to be caught up in a ‘rush’ to evil and make judgments which with afterthought he could regret. Evil in and of itself is abhorrently wrong but when the words ‘quick’ and ‘rush’ are added to it makes its cause and results exceedingly dangerous and disruptive.
To be a bearer of a false witness is of course a primary violation of one of the 10 commandments. And in this text where we read of a ‘quick rush to evil’ we read also of the ‘false witness who pours out lies. During the recent past we have heard and watched the devastation caused by the tsunami in Japan and the death and destruction caused by the tornadoes in many places including Alabama. These were quick and rushed and poured out their death and destruction upon all within their reach. The unprepared were helpless to ward off the effects and those who survived have a long way to go to fully recover and some will not outlive the recovery process. The last part of the proverbial warning of God’s hatred toward such abomination says that all of this mayhem is impacted upon the community within the reach of this ‘quick rush to evil’ and the ‘false persons who ‘pour’ out lies in order to stir up the community. Unless you have no ears to hear what the Spirit says, you should pay attention less a worse thing come upon you.