Contrast
There is a real contrast between good people and bad people. I mean you don’t have to guess which category they fall into. You can usually just observe their behavior and their conversation and know if they are honorable or not.
The Lord in His Word calls me to live an honorable and respectable life. He wants my life to reflect His Presence in me. My behavior, my choices, my decisions reflect His Presence, His character or not.
In Malachi, he ends his prophetic book by speaking to the contrast between good people and bad people. Check this out….
1“There is a day coming that will burn like a hot furnace, and all the proud and evil people will be like straw. On that day they will be completely burned up so that not a root or branch will be left,” says the Lord All-Powerful. 2 “But for you who honor me, goodness will shine on you like the sun, with healing in its rays. You will jump around, like well-fed calves. 3 Then you will crush the wicked like ashes under your feet on the day I will do this,” says the Lord All-Powerful. (Malachi 4:1-3 NCV)I’m not sure how much clearer He can make it. If I’m proud and evil, destruction awaits. If I honor and serve the Lord, I will be full of life and actually help others by honoring the Lord and His call upon my life.
I don’t want my life to look evil at all. I don’t want there to be shades of gray. I want it to be crystal clear that the Lord is present in me and is honored by the way I live. I want my good life to be in stark contrast to the way I used to be.