The object then will be to make our independence a blessing. To do this we must secure our union on solid foundations; an herculean task and to effect which mountains of prejudice must be leveled! It requires all the virtue and all the abilities of the Country. ... We know each others sentiments, our views are the same: we have fought side by side to make America free, let us hand in hand struggle to make her happy.
~~Alexander Hamilton to John Laurens, August 15, 1782
~~Alexander Hamilton to John Laurens, August 15, 1782
(Sorry that this post is a day late, Jean. :( But, better late than never, I suppose!).
Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.Notice here that Paul does NOT say that he does not examine himself; in fact, he penned the following instruction in his second Corinthian epistle under the inspiration of the Spirit:
Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified. (2 Corinthians 13:5)Notice that Paul addressed the above to Christians, not to unbelievers. He is telling them to examine themselves, to see if they are in The Faith, if Jesus Christ is in them. If the answer is "yes," then all we need to do is keep our eyes on Jesus. We are His stewards commissioned to do His service; therefore, He is the one who decides if our service is sufficient. If we need to amend, He has His ways of letting us know.
If we are continually "judging ourselves," we begin to think and live self-centeredly (what? that's not a word?). We take our eyes of Jesus, and we lose sight of our goal -- staying focused on Him, believing what He says even when we don't see it with our eyes, and doing what He says. Like Peter, we become concerned about the wind and waves around us, and we foolishly worry about our ability to walk on stormy waters; when in fact, it is through Christ that we walk on water.
We must keep our eyes on Him. We should not seek the approval of others, or even of ourselves. We should seek HIS. And the Scriptures make it clear what is necessary to be pleasing in His sight.
He has shown you, O man, what is good;The Word for Wednesday meme has moved to Jean's blog, "Yeah, Right ..." Please visit to see who else has participated!
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:8
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If I've followed the gist of your text here, Herky, then you shouldn't be apologizing for being late. Has Jesus said it's late? :)
This is an excellent word, and I will continue to mull it over. I'd never looked at things quite this way.
LOL Jean! Well, OK. I meant "late" as in, I made a commitment to post a "Word for Wednesday," not really a "Word for Thursday" ... :)
Thanks for reading and leaving your comment. If, in the course of your mulling (at your convenience, of course) you realize something new, or have an area of understanding, please feel free to share it!
Thanks again! Happy, uh, Word for "Wednesday"!