Day 50, Year 1 Turn Away from Evil and Do Good

“Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive.” (Ezekiel 18:27 NKJV)

“The highway of the upright is to depart from evil; He who watches his way preserves his life.” (Proverbs 16:17 NASB)

“Right” in today’s first verse, tsedaqah in Hebrew, is usually translated as “righteousness, or justice” (Proverbs 12:28). Yesterday, I mentioned that wisdom makes people do good and walk in the paths of God’s righteousness. Specifically, the two verses of today point out the essence of the path of righteousness. First, the wicked must abandon their habit of doing evil and turn to do what is considered righteous and just in the eyes of the Lord so as to be alive. Second, the righteous should continue to turn away from evil in order to preserve our lives.

God’s wisdom teaches people to turn from the path of evil to the path of righteousness. When His wisdom is manifested, we must cooperate with our obedient actions in order to truly turn away from evil and become righteous. A common situation is that the wicked are accustomed to doing evil and fail to see anything wrong with it. But when God’s mercy comes, their conscience is awakened and they realize the harm or other bad consequences of evil deeds. So, they might think of wanting to depart from wickedness with related actions.

Once the thought or idea of turning away from evil and doing good stems, people often have two choices. First, they quickly suppress the thought and continue as before. Second, we delve deeper into the idea. The latter usually goes through a process that involves contemplating what benefits sinful pleasures really have, what price we have to pay for abandoning evil deeds, and what impact our changes would have on our personal lives, friends, family, etc. Upon reflection, we often nurture a feeling of hatred for evil deeds. These newly transformed feelings usually align closer with God’s feelings toward sin, motivating us to seek repentance consistently. Finally, we choose to turn away from evil and do good. This is a common starting point of repentance.

What might be more troubling for believers today are some inconspicuous acts of evil. Earning personal wealth, developing hobbies and interests, or even ideals are considered normal and good according to this secular world. We must carefully discern rather than blindly follow the values and trends prevalent in society. Turning away from evil is the only way to keep ourselves from being polluted. Anything that goes against God’s will is considered evil. Evildoers are heading for destruction; conversely, turning away from evil invigorates our souls. 

Reflection questions:

1) Are you accustomed to grasping the idea or thoughts of turning away from evil and doing good, including dealing with the evil that is prevalent in society? If you are not used to it, how to turn it more completely?

2) Are there any areas in your life where you need to turn away from evil and do good? Do you need help in this process?