“End the evil of those who are wicked, and defend the righteous. For you look deep within the mind and heart, O righteous God.”
Psalm 7:9 NLT
Wouldn’t it be nice if evil could be banished from this world. We look around at global events, and see the wars and strife that decimate nations. As I write, the war in Ukraine continues. The Middle East appears constantly in the news, as one nation, faction or religious group battles against another. Evil people doing evil things to other evil people. There seems no let up in the wickedness present in this world. We yearn for the day prophesised by Isaiah, when he wrote, “The Lord will mediate between nations and will settle international disputes. They will hammer their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer fight against nation, nor train for war anymore”(Isaiah 2:4).
But then we look closer to home and see the evil present in our societies. Communities blighted by drugs. People dying at the hands of drunk drivers. Children abused. Fights at football matches. The list seems endless. Wouldn’t it be nice if evil could be banished from this world.
But then we perhaps stop to think about ourselves, and the evil thoughts that emerge from time to time in our minds, redeemed even as they are. Perhaps we echo what Paul wrote in Romans 7:23-24, “But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?” We find ourselves in a place where we would dearly love to see the end of evil but accept that we are as much the problem as any other person. Thankfully, through Jesus, we have the remedy for our sin as we read on in Romans. “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death” (Romans 8:1-2).
Jesus told a parable of the Wheat and the Tares, which we can find in Matthew 13, and which pictures a farmer planting good seed but the enemy comes along later and plants weeds. The wheat and the weeds grow together, and when the workers observed the weeds, they wanted to leap in and pull them all up. But the farmer asked them to wait until the harvest time, when the weeds could be separated from the wheat crop, and burnt. Applying that to today, God created human beings to be like Him (in His image) but the enemy, the devil, corrupted His creation (the Fall in the Garden). Through Jesus, believing and repentant people become the crop of the good seed but all those who prefer evil will be separated at the End of the Age.
There is another thought. If God removed all evil from the earth today, would there be anyone left? As Paul wrote, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23). There is coming a time when evil will be dealt with, at the End of the Age. We don’t know when that will be, but happen it will. God sees what is going on in people’s hearts. He sees the righteous people saved and forgiven of their sins. But he also sees the hearts and minds of evil people, and takes note. God is righteous as well as loving. He wants all people to respond to His love and be saved from the judgement to come. But equally, He allows all those who prefer evil to continue in their ways. He created mankind with the ability to choose their destinies.
Dear Father God. Sobering thoughts this morning. We come once again to the Cross, looking once again at our Saviour and asking for forgiveness. Not for us, Your children, the ways of evil. And we pray for both for domestic and world events, that You will hold back the tides of evil and protect Your people. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 