Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Justice For One and Justice For All!

Over the past few months I have really been thinking about justice – God's justice and what He expects from us. In our bible study group we have been reading through Exodus where God talks a lot about justice and what justice is to Him. I have been asking myself how important justice is to me – is it as important as it is to God or does it take a back burner in my life especially when it is not affecting me? Unfortunately and very sad to say, it has taken a back seat many times over when it hasn't directly affected me.

This year has been a year where God has allowed me to see first hand what injustice can do to me, my family and some of my very dear friends. I know that He allowed me to see this first hand many times over because He wanted me to be more like Him and hate injustice as much He does. Mission accomplished! Since I have spent days and months thinking about this topic in relation to my life and the lives of those around me and also in relation to the elections, I wanted to share with you what God says in His word regarding justice and how He feels about injustice. I pray that as you read this, you will also be challenged to make changes in your life, in the way that you deal with people that you know and with strangers and that you will step outside of your comfort zone and go out of your way to make sure that someone around you receives justice!

Here is what I found the Bible to say:

Exodus 23:2
"Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd

Exodus 23:6
"Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.

Leviticus 19:15
"Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.

Deuteronomy 24:17
Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge.

Deuteronomy 27:19
"Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!

Job 8:3
Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?

Psalm 103:6
The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.

Proverbs 29:7
The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern

Isaiah 1:17
learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.

Jeremiah 9:24
but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD

Hosea 12:6
But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always.

Matthew 12:18
"Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations...

Luke 11:42
"Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.

Acts 17:31
For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."
(All above verses taken from the New International Version)

These are just a handful from the hundreds of verses that talk about justice. So what does all this mean for you and me? To me it means that justice is so important to our Father God and it cannot be stressed enough. Justice towards the unborn, justice towards the born, towards the widow, towards the orphan, towards the poor and needy and down trodden. Justice towards all people. Our God excels in that and seeing justice done makes His heart glad! We cannot address one and leave out the other. In His eyes that is nothing but sin! He is our standard to live by and so let's strive to follow Him today! I challenge you to go out there and find someone who has been treated wrongly (believe me, it is not that hard to find!) and show them the love of Christ. Not only will they thank you, our Father God will bless you for doing so!

1 comment:

Malsawmi Jacob said...

Glad to see this post. Justice does seem to be one of God's major concerns. How we need to practise it in our daily living! Justice and equity.