We’ve all been guilty of doing wicked things. Sin, by definition, is wicked. Those things that drove the nails into the hands and feet of our Savior are all wicked. Here Solomon makes an important distinction. There is a difference between those of us who are guilty of sin—which is all of us—and those who intentionally pursue evil and seek to drag others into sin. This verse is talking about devious schemers who willingly and purposefully run toward wickedness. It appears in the middle of the list of things God hates, and we should hate them as well. I have to confess that, as a younger believer, there were times when I was hurt and could easily begin planning how to get even. Thankfully, the Lord intercepted those plans pretty quickly. Usually, He did so through people in my life who loved Jesus, recognized when I had been mistreated, and spoke God’s truth into my heart. When I was much younger, I found comfort in a misunderstanding of the verse about leaving vengeance to God. I wanted Him to carry out my revenge for me. But plotting evil is still evil, and rushing toward it is something God hates. Being tempted or enticed by sin—and even yielding to it—does not place us in the same category as those who deliberately devise evil or run to it. This passage points God’s hatred toward the source of that willful wickedness: the intentional plotting of evil. Today, flee from sin and walk intimately with God and His people. #BeTheEdge
“Reject every kind of evil.” 1 Thessalonians 5:22 (NIV)
