Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
You cannot tell who is loved by God by seeing who it is that he blesses. Jesus told us that the Father "maketh His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust" (Mt. 5:45). God blesses even the worst of men because He is good. At the same time, we are told that God hates the wicked and those who love violence (Ps. 11:5). He will cast them into a pit of eternal fire after the Final Judgment so that they never molest His people again.
Then, if God is good to everyone, how can we tell who it is that God loves? There is only one way. Jesus said it: "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten" (Rev. 3:19).
The wicked may have riches and power on earth, but the righteous have a treasure far greater; they are corrected by God when they err so that they may live forever with Him in peace. "Riches profit not in the day of wrath," observed Solomon, "but righteousness delivereth from death" (Prov. 11:4). Who is more loved by God, the rich man who sins and is happy or the poor man who cannot do wrong without being grieved for it?
David knew what true riches are. In Psalm 94:12, he wrote: "Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of Thy Law, that Thou mayest give to him rest from the days of adversity until the pit be dug for the wicked."
The wicked think that because their sin does not bring about immediate punishments, they have escaped God's judgment for their wrong. They do not understand that they are hated by God and that He is refusing to correct them so that at the Final Judgment, their torment will be made all the more excruciating. God remarks on the thoughts of the wicked in Psalm 50:21. Speaking through the Psalmist to the wicked, God said, "These things have you done, and I kept silence. [As a result], you thought that I was altogether such a one as yourself." Wicked men think God is like them, or at least overlooks their sin, when God continues to be good to them. Wicked men are fools.
Sometimes, children of God often see others do deeds that they know are wrong, and yet God continues to bless those evil doers. The righteous in the Bible were puzzled at times by this. Young Jeremiah cried out to the Lord (12:1), "Why do the wicked prosper? Why are they who deal very treacherously so happy?" And Asaph, one of Israel's leading Levitical singers, wrote a Psalm confessing his brief time of envy at the wicked: "My feet were almost gone; my steps had well-nigh slipped, for I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked."
These thoughts confused Asaph until, in his words, "I went into the sanctuary of God. Then I understood their end." Consideration of the coming judgment of God put Asaph's thoughts back in order. When he recovered from his temporary insanity, it was as if he had been awaken from a deep sleep, and he felt ashamed of himself for his foolishness: "My heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins. So foolish was I, and ignorant. I was as a beast before Thee . . . For they that are far from Thee shall perish."
Asaph recovered from his envy of the wicked because God loved him and reminded him of the coming Judgment. It was God who grieved Asaph's heart for his foolishness, just as it was God who prevented the evildoers from being grieved for theirs.
Child of God, "Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good. So shall thou dwell in the land [of promise] and verily thou shalt be fed."
God loves those who trust in Him, and He proves His love by chastening them if they ever do anything that would lead them away from His righteousness and into the slippery path that falls away into hell. Jesus is our Savior because he saves us from sinning. But even if we sin, he pleads for us to the Father to grant repentance to us so that we can repent and turn again toward the right way. If you feel conviction for partaking of any wrong thing, my friend, be thankful. God is giving you a precious opportunity to turn from that error and escape the wrath that will come on those who do not repent.
Wise men thank God for every time He chastens them for error. I have known wise men who even thanked God for the cancer with which He struck them down, calling it "that blessed cancer." They also thanked God for healing them of those cancers when they repented and cried out to Him for mercy. This is the understanding and faith of the prophet who called to God's suffering people, saying, "Come, and let us return unto the Lord, for He hath torn, and he will heal. He hath smitten, and He will bind us up" (Hos. 6:1).
Have you suffered for doing wrong? That was the love of God for you. Have you felt a sense of shame for sin? That is the love of God for you. Take advantage of that love and turn toward God with all your heart while you can. Those feelings may not always be given to you, as Solomon warned us in Proverbs 29:1: "He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy."