“Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;” (Philippians 2:14-15).
Blameless means without guilt and innocent. This is what the work of Jesus did for us. Paul writes that we should do all things without murmurings and disputings so that we may be blameless. It seems like such a small thing, but not in God’s eyes. Today, there isn’t anything we don’t grumble and complain about; it’s too cold, too hot, too wet, too dry, too easy, too hard. It’s an inner dissatisfaction with the state of things. It’s an inner most belief that things should be to our liking. And it comes from an egotistical and self-centered image of ourselves.
God hates murmuring so much He kept the Hebrews from entering the Promised Land because they murmured in actuality against God, not Moses. And when we murmur, we do the same. When the Hebrews heard of the giants in the promised land, they murmured. “And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?” (Numbers 14:2-3) They murmured against the miracle that God had done for them, taking them out of slavery.
The Christian life may be difficult depending on how we look at things. God has done a miraculous thing, taking us out of the kingdom of sin and darkness and translating us to the kingdom of Jesus. (Colossians 1:13) He has made us blameless, forgiving our sin and never remembering it again. (1 John 1:9) He has made us His children to sit in heavenly places with Jesus. (John 1:12; Ephesians 2:4-7) But we murmur about the tribulations when we know they are inevitable in this sinful world. Jesus told us clearly. “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) It should come as no surprise. That is what the world offers. It’s the world system God has saved us from. But He has left us here to live out our natural lives as watchmen not murmurers. (Mark 13:34-37; Luke 12:35-40)
Those who murmur are part of the crooked and perverse generation we live in. The Greek words that were used in the original that were translated crooked and perverse meant warped and distorted which describes this generation. Their minds are twisted, not able see nor understand the truth of things. Their thinking is not right because their perspective isn’t right. And in turn their words and deeds are also crooked and perverse. On the other hand, those who have the Holy Spirit have the Spirit of Truth and all things are knowledge and understanding. Murmuring is for those without the Holy Spirit and void of knowledge and understanding.
In this world we shine as lights, literally and figuratively. We shine literally because we are light. Jesus gave us His light. He also declared that we are the light of the world. “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.” (Matthew 5:14) We also shine figuratively, a beacon of knowledge and understanding of the marvelous gift of salvation God offers mankind. “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2Corinthians 4:6)
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