Growithim, Indonesia.
Many think and reason that: “I live in the city, surrounded with different kinds of responsibilities, how can I pray and read the Bible every single day? If I live in the country, I’m sure I able to do so.”
“Look! How can I live like Christ lived if the people around me live as those in Sodom and Gomorrah?”
Is it true my brothers and sisters? Let us search the Bible thoroughly:
“And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.”
John 1:46
Why did Nathanael say so? Because the situation and condition in Nazareth was indeed evil. That is why he said so. However, Jesus was a Nazarene.
What does it tell us? The example that Jesus gave us teaches that to live “blameless and harmless” does not depend on the place where we were born, where live, study, or work, nor on the people around us.
Jesus did not let Himself weakened by reproach, mockery, or even hardship that happened to Him. But His example is to pray daily to gain wisdom and to walk in the right path.
Let us examine ourselves. How many of us who, instead of receiving encouragement, receive scorn when we are just about to stop our bad habits like cheating, smoking, drinking, cursing?
When we are weak, remember that Jesus left us an example of a life “without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation.” (Philippians 2:15)
When we are hated, reproached, and mocked, remember: “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you.” (John 15:18)
Therefore, let us live a holy life and become more and more like His character even though we live in this evil world.
Good morning and God bless us.