Theme: SELF APPRAISAL
Text: “Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled, and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.” – Isaiah 33: 1.
Comment: A man reaps what he sows. Those who derive pleasure from undoing other people will not escape the judgment of the Almighty God. Eliphaz the Temanite declared under inspiration, ‘Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same. By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.’ (Job 4: 8,9) The wise king Solomon also stated, ‘He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail’ (Proverbs 22: 8) Prophet Hosea saw the futility in such wicked enterprise and he stated, ‘For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind…’ ( Hosea 8: 7) Nobody should allow himself to be deceived that he would go unpunished for his actions. ‘Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting’ (Galatians 6: 7) The law of retributive justice will catch up with people who are deliberately wicked to their neighbours. The golden rule propagated by our Savior Jesus Christ is the antidote to sin. It states: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” – Matthew 7: 12; Luke 6: 31.