Men and women who love what is wicked;  you who see no difference between what is the Righteousness of God among men and the wicked things you adore.  Why do you refuse to look into the things of righteousness?

Not one of us is “Righteous”.  There is One who is Righteous alone.  There is none Good but God.  Yet you despise your fellow-men who desire to imitate what is good.  You despise those who appeal to God day and night.  They are not like you, so you despise them.  You love them well enough when they offer you peace.  Why won’t you love them when they explain the full message of God?

I do not speak for myself.  Nor will those who have found the river of Righteousness that flows from the Lord.  We do not condemn you, for we were once like you.  We too condemned those who love the words of God.  But we found no reason for our folly.  Thus we succumbed to the will of God that we might learn.

Since I do not condemn you, let me ask the question again.  Why do despise those who seek and speak of the Righteousness of God?  What have we done to you but to point out what God has already spoken regarding the wicked things in this world?  Is this what offends you; that we should willingly give the warning we are conscripted by love to proclaim?

We mean you no harm.  Nor does the Righteous God mean you any harm.  He has not come among us to take away our pleasure.  He has come to give us the greatest possible pleasure: Righteousness, Peace, Fearlessness, Hope, and Eternal Life.  If you could be sure to have those would you drop your despising?

Ask and we will share.  Come taste and see that the Lord is Good.  The offer is to all who will be bold enough to look past the trinkets of this world.  The offer is to all who will humble themselves before the Living God and receive.  His name is Jesus, for the Living God has ordained Him as High Priest to all who accept His offer of peace.

By His Grace.

If I tend animals, I fence them in.  If I want to herd them, I must go to where they are.  If I travel by foot there might appear a fence I must cross.  To cross the fence is not enough.  I must continue on to my destination.

Where is the threshold of salvation?  For the thief on the cross, it was his confession.  For Stephen, it was a life lived in the fullness of the Spirit.  Let us not reflect on the threshold.  Let us not rest, either atop nor just the other side of the fence.  Far too many consider minimum sufficient.  Few pursue the fullness of their calling.

Let each man consider his own journey in the Lord.  How far have you traveled from the moment of your own salvation?  How far are you willing to travel still?  When we reach the end, we will have reached the end.  Will you truly be satisfied at the distance you were willing to travel for His sake?

I present this so that we all might consider the cost.  We do not consider the cost once and then endure.   It is a continual and daily considering that provokes a fruitful tree for the Lord.  Is He worthy of such “upward movement”?  Judge for yourself, this journey you’ve been taking.  Look to the end and consider His testimony of the work you allowed Him to accomplish within you.  How much more can be done by Him if you are simply willing to travel a little further?