September 26, 2013 … Situational Ethics

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2013 - Day 269

Devotional Song: Go to this link -  Please take the time to meditate on this poignant song, sung by Kathy Trocolli, entitled I Will Choose Christ, declaring the commitment to Christ to which all Christians should strive.

Highlight meditation passage – Psalm 15: 1-2 [NLT]: …  
1 Who may worship in your sanctuary, LORD? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill? 
2 Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. 
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 Highlight reading study of Psalms, Chapter 15: Go to this link … 

Reference Passage #1: Psalm 51 Go to this link ...  [Yes, this is the same man who wrote Psalm 15] … [NLT] …

Reference Passage #1: Romans, Chapters 7-8 ...  Go to this link ... [Yes, the same Christian wrote both of these chapters!] … [NLT] …

Reference Passage #3: Hebrews 4: 15 [In the context of verses 14-16] … [NLT] …  
14 So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. 15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same testings we do, yet He did not sin. 16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. 

My Journal for Today: The concept of ”Situational Ethics” has become a much discussed topic in this so-called “post-modern” era where we find non-Christians, especially political leaders, making decisions and establishing policy or laws based on the current tides of opinion and the pressures of ongoing circumstances. Yes, most would agree that the world is coming to the standard that there are no absolute standards or values. However, Christians should see where situational ethics will always lead mankind; and this is so because we humans have hearts tinged by the deceptive nature we read about in Jeremiah 17:9 (I hope you know that one by now – if not please look it up!). We’ll always have the tendency to make decisions which cop-out to our base nature, not being willing to follow God’s way and His will, which we can ALWAYS find in His word.

So, our world is so overtaken by the situational ethics of the day; and it looks like it’s going to take Jesus returning to bring us back to the truth of our highlight passage from Psalm 15 (and please go back and meditate not only on the first two verses but all of the short Psalm, linked for you above). But it’s of interest to note that the man, King David, who wrote Psalm 15 is the same “man after God’s own heart” who wrote Psalm 51, also linked for your review. Yes, David, at one point in his life, fell pray to his own inability to follow God’s absolute standard in a moment of weakness where his situational ethics led him to go into a spiral of bad choices. He went from Psalm 15 thinking to Psalm 51 thinking because of his inability to overcome his own situational ethics.

It’s always been interesting to me to know that the same man, the Apostle Paul, who wrote the story of his own failure to make Godly decisions in Romans 7 also wrote the inerrant truth of our victory as Christians when we surrender to the reality of what he wrote in Romans 8. And are not we blessed by the reality of what the author of Hebrews 4: 15 declared to be true, … i.e., that we have a Savior who was tempted in all things, such as we are in the situations of life; but He, Christ, modeled what we can do as His disciples and that is to make decisions and make choices based on His life and the commands that He left for us, through His Spirit, Who authored all of the truth in His word, giving us a Spirit-devised “GPS” to walk in the truth and not having to decide where to walk based on situational ethics. [And go back and meditate on the tried-and-truth of Proverbs 3: 5-6, which, if you’ve followed my blogs, should be deeply engraved in your consciousness.]

So, today, how will we walk, making decisions based on the situation of the day and our selfish desires; … or … will we recognize and follow the absolute ways of the Lord which we will always be able to find in His word?

My Prayer for Today … Lord, as Kathy Trocolli sings for me today, “I WILL CHOOSE CHRIST!” … Amen

Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online blog entitled Today God Is First [TGIF], authored by Os Hillman. If you GO TO THIS LINK  on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read Hillman’s TGIF blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.