CONSCIENCES SEARED WITH HOT IRON

Even though the Pharisees were waiting to pounce on Jesus’ action in the temple to make a case against him, they found themselves in a moral dilemma when Jesus  stood the man with a withered hand in the temple and asked a question that took them by surprise. He asked them: “I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?”(Luke 6:9).

This was hard for them to respond to because they knew that the appropriate response would see Jesus walk unscathed from their plan. Yet, they could still not change sides to speak words that would help their cause, because it was not aligned with their awareness even of the ‘letter of the law”.

Thus, to the Christian who bears the likeness of God, with the capacity to function like Him,’doing evil or causing harm and destruction should never come easy’. There should be a fierce internal resistance where one’s renewed spirit opposes anything contrary to the nature of God we bear. In fact, it takes a lot of conscious repetition and persistent overriding of one’s internal moral compass to change camps from pursuing good to evil.

Such is what Paul described in his letter to Timothy as “having their consciences seared with hot iron”(1 Tim 4:2): a state where hearts and minds neither respond to the inner promptings of the Holy Spirit nor the reproof, chastening and correction that come from the Word of God. True ‘children of God’ bear His image, hear and obey His voice and accept His chastenings. Are we still children of God or have we changed camps unconsciously?

#sly