Ecclesiastes 10:4 says, despite the battle raging around you, don’t leave your post: “If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding pacifies great offences.”
This week Michael writes that Jerry Leachman of Leachman Ministries recently wrote a blog entitled, “Do Not Leave Your Post,” an exhortation from Ecclesiastes 10:4: “If the spirit of the ruler rise up against you, leave not your place; for yielding pacifies great offences.” If we leave our post even for a little while, a lot of destruction can happen. In leaving our post, our reputation can be sullied and many followers will fall. The Bible has many warnings about people who had stood for God and the integrity of His word. As men and women serving of the most high God may our prayer be, “Keep me in the hollow of thy holy hand that I would be a witness unto you to your glory and honor.”
We know that nobody is perfect. That is why Romans 3:23 declares, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Because of the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden Romans 7:18 proclaims, “In my own flesh dwells no good thing.” But, our redemption is not through our own works. Ephesians 2:8-9 explains, “For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast.” Therefore keep your heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life. Sin thrives in darkness and behind the scenes isolation. 1 John 1:7 says, “If we walk in the light as he is in the light, the blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We’re called to the body of Christ to build up one another and to encourage one another in love.”
Pride blinds us from our weakness. 1 Corinthians 10:12 warns us, “Let him who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall.” The love of Jesus keeps us pure in heart. In His presence we develop a “hunger and thirst after righteousness.” If we focus on sin, we’ll fall deeper into sin. Sin means to miss the mark; God’s mark. The emphasis on the Greek word for sin [“hamartia”] is not on the missing of the mark but on the mark itself. Therefore, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, I press toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus [Hebrews 12:2].
God wants to reproduce children “after his kind.” The character of our Heavenly Father is love, mercy, grace and faithfulness. These are the qualities that he will reveal in us when we return our hearts to him with a whole heart. Therefore, conduct yourselves like people who stand their post to which God has assigned you. Then we shall realize His plans for good and not for evil ... to prosper and be blessed. God’s promise in Jeremiah 29:11-13 says: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall you call upon me, and you shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And you shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart.”
That we may ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ, Michael
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