Psalm 5:4 “For You are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you.”

Tis the season for all things, “Back to School.” Without a doubt, the outstanding heroes are the teachers. Somehow, they inspire children to greatness, even though those students seemingly lie dormant in the classroom from August to May. From calming angry parents in the pickup line, to disassembling and reassembling copiers faster than a Nascar pit crew, to possessing the telepathy to know which child released the hamster in the classroom, teachers are superheroes.

However, one area in which teachers admittedly struggle is in pairing up roommates for overnight field trips. Certain students simply cannot room together. Perhaps one is a night owl, the other an early bird, or one likes it cold and the other likes it hot, or they argue, and their parents argue, too. Through it all, teachers have proven incompatibility does exist!

Did you know incompatibility is found in scripture? Two of the greatest incompatible conditions are good and evil. Just as with roommates, good and evil simply cannot live together. And, since God is good, evil cannot coexist with Him. If you want proof, check out Psalm 5:4 above.

Consider how evil played out in the life of King Saul. The king was not accustomed to sharing the spotlight. Then a young whipper-snapper named David showed up and killed the big, bad Goliath. Suddenly, David took center stage and Saul was demoted to supporting-actor status. Saul’s insecurity planted jealousy in his heart which grew to fill him with evil. Saul allowed jealousy over David’s popularity to take up residency in his soul, consume his thoughts, and control his actions. Eventually, the evil in Saul’s heart crowded out the spirit of God.

So, friend, stop and ponder a few hard truths about evil. It will grow if we allow it to remain in our hearts. It will eat away at our desire to be who God planned us to be. And, eventually, as with Saul, the Spirit of God will depart from us. So, friend, if your desire is to possess God’s Spirit, flee from evil, for God simply does not co-exist with it.

Father God, fill our hearts to overflowing with your love, leaving us no room for any sort of evil.

Blessings

Rita Cochrane