Proverbs 6:14 Their perverted hearts plot evil, and they constantly stir up trouble.
We all miss the mark sometimes and tarnish our reputation, persona, and even social standing if we have one. We try and put our best foot forward, only to have it stepped on and hear an expletive come from our mouth that might not be so nice. We fall and fail at perfectness and wonder if we will ever get things right. The answer is – not in this lifetime on this side of eternity. The state of man’s heart is flawed and subject to deception. Rom. 7:24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? We truly are knights in tarnished armour and will always need the Lord’s saving grace to keep us from eternal death.
When we look closely at the heroes of faith, we see flawed individuals. Moses beat an Egyptian to death, then hid his body in the sand. King David organized Uriah’s death on the battlefield to hide the fact that he had an illicit affair with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba, plus was trying to cover up the pregnancy that came out of their tryst. Saul of Tarsus sanctioned the persecution and imprisonment of Christians and approved of the mob’s murderous stoning of Stephen to death because Stephen believed Jesus was Lord. These knights in tarnished armour eventually became the fathers of our faith.
Their hearts were once perverted and caused many troubles. Prov. 6:14 Their perverted hearts plot evil, and they constantly stir up trouble. However, through the power of repentance in God and His calling on their lives, they became the heroes and leaders of our faith. Only after God intervenes in our self-created messes can the tarnish finally come off our armour. We need a Saviour, and there is no other Saviour than the Saviour God Himself provided for us – Jesus Christ, the Lord.
Often, people will try to save themselves with a self-righteous approach to what they think God is expecting, rather than actually doing what God says. 2Tim. 3:5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that! They translate God’s commands to suit their own agendas, then wonder why things do not work out. Like Saul of Tarsus, who thought he was doing God’s work by persecuting Christians, found out on his way to Damascus that he was completely wrong and his religion had become flawed because Christ had risen and the new covenant had begun.
Saul believed he wielded the authority of a knight in shining armour, only to find out his armour was totally tarnished and corroded. What has God been talking to us about that we have not handed over for the fires of God’s burning love to burn the dross out of? Prov. 17:3 The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart. What is lurking in our hearts that might lead us to rationalize our personal agenda because we do not want to serve God’s plan, because it may be inconvenient or discomforting at the time?
We are soldiers in the Lord’s army and knights of His realm, so to speak, but to shine clean and brilliant in heart and mind, we need the saving work of Christ to be the prevalent truth of God working within us to do His will.
Without Christ as Lord, none of our own good deeds amount to much in the eyes of God. Do these works and good deeds do well for mankind? Yes, absolutely! However, when it comes to doing what God wants done His way, we need Christ as Lord so that our good works bless the kingdom of God and therefore mankind as well. Eph. 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.
We succeed because Jesus succeeded at the cross. He rose from the grave to give us His righteousness so we would always have an assurance that when we repent of our sins, God is faithful to forgive us and remove the tarnished stain from our hearts. Let us put on our armour and march forward in the power and love of our God. In Jesus name.
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