“THESE SIX THINGS...”

by Rick Pennington

Proverbs 6:16-19 states the following: “These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren.” Even though we know that no one sin is worse than another in God’s eyes, we can certainly see how these seven things would be despised by Him.

Thinking of seven things that are an abomination to God makes one think what things are characteristics that God loves. It could be easily summed up in one word...obedience. Or, you could make a list of things that please God that would be unending. But I thought I would follow the example of this scripture, and try to list seven characteristics that God LOVES in His people.

HUMILITY

God loves a Christian who has a humble spirit. Moses was praised in Numbers 12:3 for being more humble “than all men who were on the face of the earth.” It is obvious how God feels about humility by making such a statement. In Isaiah 57:15, we are told that God dwells “with him who has a contrite and humble spirit.” It goes without saying that He does not dwell with one who has a haughty and arrogant attitude toward God, his fellow brethren, or anyone else. We are told to “associate with the humble” (Romans 12:16), “humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord” (James 4:10), and to “be clothed with humility” (I Peter 5:5).

If you stop and think about it, how in the world could we ever be anything but humble? Having free will, we choose to sin against God (Romans 3:23), and are all worthy of death.  But, He loved us so much as those made in His own image, that He was willing to sacrifice His only Son for us to have a chance at eternal life. If we sit back and consider our plight without the blood of Christ, then any thoughts of arrogance on our part are truly unfounded.

PATIENCE

Closely aligned with humility is patience. We are told in I Timothy 6:11, among other virtues, to “pursue patience”. James tells us that “the testing of your faith produces patience” in chapter 1:3. Patience requires effort on our part. It does not come naturally. We have to want to work on this quality, and we need to pray to God to help us learn how to be more patient, and help us to put it in practice in our daily lives. We need to be patient in all aspects of our lives. Patient with our spouses, our children, and especially with our fellow Christians. When 200-300 people are working together in a local group of Christians, there will always be disagreements, but we have to learn to listen to others, and often allow others’ wishes to come before ours.

We have no better example of patience than Christ himself. Jesus became so weary with his apostles and their continual lack of faith and misunderstanding of His purpose on Earth, but He never gave up on them, and loved them dearly despite their faults. In spite of the fact that we have the complete revelation of God and access to Him through Christ, we continually fall short of the mark. Christ must groan deep within His spirit when He sees some of the things that we do, but He remains patient and longsuffering with us, and rejoices when we correct our errors and get back on the right track. Therefore, the same applies to us when it comes to having patience with our brethren, especially those that are babes in Christ. 

SERVICE

We all live busy lives and have many responsibilities when it comes to our families and our jobs. But, we must never let the things of this world get in the way of being a servant in the Kingdom of God. There are so many things that need to be done daily, especially in a large group as ours. There are sick to be seen about, those who need spiritual attention, and various jobs that are never completely finished. Every person who sits in a pew in this building can do something to further the cause of Christ. It may be preaching a sermon, teaching a Bible class, helping prepare the Lord’s supper, preparing a meal for someone, leading singing, cutting the grass of an elderly member, helping with cleaning the building, or simply encouraging those who need it. There is never a time where it can be said that all is finished and there is nothing further to do.

Once again, Jesus is the ultimate example for us of how we should be servants of God and of each other. In John 9:34, Christ states that He must work “while it is day”, and before there is no more time to work. We must remain busy servants in God’s Kingdom because there will be a time when we must give an accounting, and if we have failed as servants, then we will have failed as Christians. Jesus, the Son of God,  washed the dirty feet of his disciples in John 13: 1-17. If the Son of God can do this while on Earth, then what does that tell us about refusing to serve in any capacity that we can?

DOERS OF THE WORD

It is easy to say you love God and Christ. It is very easy to say that you believe that Christ died on Calvary’s cross for the sins of the world. It is much more difficult to put pride and self-service aside, and do the will of God. The Lord does not need those who say “Amen, brother,” but never put those beliefs into practice. God wants us to be the type of people who know why we believe what we do, and are willing to do it without fear of what the repercussions may be. In Luke 6:46, Christ asks “why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do the things which I say?” We are not truly His people if we do not follow His commandments.

In Matthew 7:21, Christ says that “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” There are a lot of people who say they are followers of Jesus, but if they are not doing what Jesus asks of them, then Christ quickly dispels that notion. In I Samuel 15:11, when Saul did not follow thoroughly God’s command in utterly destroying the Amalekites, God through Samuel tells Saul, “Behold to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.” God has never accepted partial obedience of His will, or only lip service, but fully expects that what He asks should be done. And after the sacrifice of His son, who are we to question?

A TESTED FAITH

We are never promised that our lives as Christians on this earth will be easy. There will be daily trials and tests of our faith. Peter writes that the genuineness of our faith will be tested by fire, and may it “be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”  ( I Peter 1:7) God tells us that we will be forced to stand up for what we believe in at some point in our lives, and He expects us to pass the test.

We are also told in I Peter 4:12 to “not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you.” We may not face some of the physical things that may be referred to here, but as Christians we can fully expect that ridicule, pressures, and severe tests of faith will occur. If you think about it, how else could God know who are truly His? If everything was cut and dried on our journey to heaven, then no effort would be required, and our love for God could never be proven. But on the positive side, we are also promised in I Corinthians 10:13 that God “will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able.” Praise be to God for that!  

SPIRITUAL MATURITY

If you think about it, what do humility, patience, service, doing the word, and a  tested faith all have in common? Spiritual maturity! It is an old saying, but one that still holds true. We cannot stand still as Christians. We must either digress and never make the necessary steps forward, or mature in Christ, and become more like what God expects from us. In Hebrews 5:12, Paul writes that at some point in time, we need to be able to become teachers of the word instead of having to still be taught as babes. We also need to be able to discern between good and evil. We are also told in I Corinthians 14:20 to “in understanding be mature.”

We all have different levels of understanding and different talents that we can use, but if we are  not developing those talents, not increasing that understanding, and not taking advantage of  the opportunities that we are presented with, then we are not maturing, and are not growing in the work of the kingdom as we are instructed.

READY FOR HIS COMING

If we are able to say that we have the above six characteristics, then we are probably ready for the coming of Christ. We are told in II Peter 3:10, that “the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.” We simply do not know when that will occur. It may be while we are still alive, or it may long after we have died. So, the key for us is to always be ready for that day. Just like the wise virgins in the parable in Matthew 25, we must have made preparations for the coming of the Lord, and not be left outside when the door is shut for good.

Are you ready for that day?? Have you followed the simple plan of God for your salvation as laid out in His word? He tells us to hear the word, believe it, repent of our sins, confess that Jesus is the son of God, and then be baptized to wash away our sins. Have you done so? If not, then do so now, and start your journey to becoming the kind of Christian that God wants us all to become, and decide to spend your eternity with Him!