Monday, June 22

Jeremiah 22:15–16 (HCSB)

Are you a king because you excel in cedar?

Your own father, did he not eat and drink? He administered justice and righteousness, then it went well with him.

He took up the case of the poor and needy, then it went well.

Is this not what it means to know Me?

‹This is› the LORD’s declaration.

 

The first question was, “Does living in a big ‘ol house make you somebody special?” We would say today, “You are what you drive” or “The clothes make the man.”  There are people who think what they drive, what they wear, or what they live in. the Bible says, “Lizards are easy to catch, but they live in even in kings’ palaces.” (Proverbs 31:28). A reptile can live in a palace—does that make it a prince? There are good people who live in project housing, and there are vile people who live in gated communities. What you live in, what you drive, or what you wear does not determine who you are—especially in God’s eyes.

 

So what does it take to be someone special in God’s eyes? It requires living right and treating other people with deference. We should take up the cause of those who cannot defend themselves. We should do the right thing by others. We do not do this to earn entrance into heaven, but this is how we should live if we are people headed to heaven.

 

So today, in the words of that eminent theologian Spike Lee, go out and “Do the right thing.”