Be There, and Be Square – The Kingdom Curriculum XIII (7)

Be There, and Be Square

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Exodus 20:16; Deuteronomy 5:20

“You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and His testimonies and His statutes, which He has commanded you. And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may go well with you, and that you may go in and take possession of the good land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers by thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the LORD has promised.” Deuteronomy 6:16-18

Let Us Be Honest with God

We need to make sure at all times that we’re square with God in our relationship with Him–no harboring sin, no fudging the Truth, no trying to manipulate Him for our own selfish ends. We have to work hard at this because the law of sin and the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil will try to get us to compromise truthfulness. They’ll even suggest “excellent” rationalizations for why it’s OK.

Being honest with God begins in His presence. Unless we spend time meditating on His holy, righteous, and good Law, we will not be able to see ourselves as we truly are, nor to gaze upon the beauty and glory of God as He is (Jas. 1:22-25; 2 Cor. 3:12-18). Unless we linger in silence before the Lord, allowing Him to search and convict us (Ps. 139:23; Jn. 16:8-11), how will we ever hear as He seeks to shape and direct us? Unless we plead with God in prayer for the fullness of His Spirit (Lk. 11:1-13), we shall never have the strength we need to live according to the Law of God.

We need to make a point of being there, every day, in the presence of God. That’s where we’ll get square with Him each day and find the strength we need to stay square with Him throughout the day. The old maxim, “Be there or be square” doesn’t hold in this case. We should say, rather, “Be there, and be square!”

How can we use the Law of God to make wise ethical choices? Order your copy of The Ground for Christian Ethics today. Go to www.MyParuchia.com, point your browser to “Publications,” then click on the drop-down option, “Waxed Tablet Publications.”

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore.

T.M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.