So There!

DEVOTION
1 TIMOHTY
SO THERE!
1 Tim 5:22
22 Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.
NIV
Ok, Ok, I am going to do it. I think it would be wise to sit and have a serious conversation with someone in order to first find out if they are a true believer, and second whether or not they first, believe in the gift of healing, or the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which would be the two reasons for the laying on of hands. I would suppose if that person were heavily involved in some form of disobedience which is called sin, of which I am not supposed to share in, the prayer associated with the laying on of my hands would not be answered anyway. Now if this person was only asking in order to prove God is not God, or he no longer answers pray, it would have worked. But then he would have been a wolf in sheep’s clothing and I would have detected that if I was not hasty in laying on hands and praying for his healing or that he been filled with the Spirit. He could also be trying to prove the issue about tongues associated as one of the evidences of being baptized in the Spirit as false. No question about, this business of laying on of hand should be taken serious and with prayer. I certainly am not about to allow someone else to hood-winkle me into becoming involved in some sin they are doing. I already have enough of my own to overcome. Why in the world would I want to share somebody else’s? I suppose misery loves company, although sin usually feels good, at least for the moment. The long term effects can be damaging to the inner being, and very destructive to the relationship with God, not on his part, but on the part of man. Keeping oneself pure is certainly the goal here. To be clean, innocent before God is an absolute lofty goal, only attainable through the blood of Jesus Christ. I really do not think I can keep myself in that condition. I have placed my trust in Christ for my purity, my cleanness, my innocence. True, I should not go about sinning just to give God the chance to declare me innocent because of Christ, but I am, at the same time, unable to keep myself absolutely sinless. I will not allow others to convince me to join in their sin, so at least I can conform to that much of the standard. Although it is easy to get catch up in gossip, and I suppose that would be sharing in their sin. Even when trying to justify the gossip as being a prayer request is sharing in their sin. No, I am going to refuse this too. I would also think the act of accepting some false teaching would be sin too, of being duped by some intelligent fine sounding words. No, I know the truth and when I hear the truth being challenged I am not joining in by being silent, I am going to protest and do it loudly. So there!