Virtue is its own Reward

Ya gotta be tough, sometimes, ya gotta be tough. But, not always. Sometimes, it pays to cry, to weep. Remember that Christ said, "Blessed are they who weep, for they shall later laugh." Sometimes, it is better to cry with the saints than to laugh with the sinners. Don't we want them pulling for us when the chips are down for us? There is a time to laugh, and a time to weep, according to King Solomon's The Book of Ecclesiastes. What does this have to do with virtue? This weeping business? And just how does it pay me to weep. Remember the saying, "No pain, no gain?" Rarely do we laugh when it hurts, if ever; laughter is not our natural reaction to pain.

Usually, depending on how bad we're hurting, we put of expressions of pain, and often times, this is expressed through weeping. The New Testament tells us to do this: "Rejoice with those who rejoice, and mourn with those who mourn." There is a special blessing for those who mourn in the Bible. It goes as such: "Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted." If you attend the funeral of a friend's family member to comfort your mourning friend, you will be blessed by God for having done so. At least this is how I read and understand the Bible. So, what is virtue? If we want an abundance of automatic reward, we will, if the saying is true, we will practice as much virtue as we possibly can. If we don't care for reward, automatic or otherwise, we'll probably blow a lot of stuff off.

Something Old

When spirits are up, morale is high; when spirits are down, morale is low. When morale is low, it leads to an overall state of depression. How might we raise the morale of America? First off, we need to hear good news, instead of the bad, depressing news we get everything on television. The news is powerful stuff. It is meant to be that way. What good news is there in such a dark day as this? We ever have Jesus Christ and the Gospel. He is with us always, even unto the end of the age. "But," you say," That isn't really news, either good or bad, in my opinion." If it were news at all, Brian Williams would be talking about it.

Maybe we need to present it in a new and exciting way, then that would be newsworthy. Televangelism seems to be a flop, morally speaking, so maybe there needs to be new avenues in media by which to present the Good News, that it would become newsworthy, or that, in an outstanding way, the presenter would be a newsworthy individual.

For me, televangelism seems to be a failure, morally speaking, as I said before. It presents Christianity in too showbizzy a fashion, in my opinion. But, I think the problem lies in that humanity has gone for overkill in everything, and has practically shunned understatement. Were practically dead in the water with the media blitz. Maybe, instead of needing something new, we need something old to make way for something new later on. Something from a by-gone era. I'm not necessarily referring to the stuff of nostalgia, like "Happy Days." I mean a return to something considered obsolete and/or antiquated. For instance, The covenant of the law of Moses is, by Christians, considered obsolete. I am not suggesting abandoning the New Testament at all. But what I am suggesting is a return to spiritual principals that predate Jesus Christ. Perhaps it would be wise to do things decreed by the Law of Moses, as if we were under the Law of Moses. Even Christ Himself taught, "If anyone obeys even the least of the precepts found written in the Law and the Prophets, and teaches others to do the same, they will be called great in the kingdom of heaven; but if anyone breaks the least of these commands, and teaches others to do the same, they will be called least in the kingdom of heaven." So, perhaps we ought to be a little more obedient to the Law of Mose and to the Prophets. Maybe we need something a little old fashioned. They do say that history has a way of repeating itself. Maybe if we begin practicing old, even ancient customs, we would learn something new, instead of hope for the next "big" thing.

It is written in the psalms, "The Law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul." But, knowing the law is not enough...we have to do what the law says, or we are condemned as lawbreakers, and that is trouble every time, whether were breaking the law of God, or the law of the land. So, what I am suggesting is that we who do believe in Jesus Christ ought to live more according to the law and obedience to it, rather than rely solely on grace. Obedience to the law among other things, a source of reward. For instance, say you are driving down the highway, and you are determined to comply and obey the law, even though nobody else is, or seems to. Let us say also that the police are pulling people over right and left during your time on the road, but you, they do not pull over. However, let us say a certain policeman takes note of your driving and your license plate number during the chaos. You make it home, not realizing what the policeman had done. But, about an hour later, a policeman pulls into your driveway to thank you for doing your part to maintain order during a hectic and chaotic time. Well, it is said that virtue is its own reward, and if something like this were to happen, it would confirm further that point: Virtue is its own reward. Virtue is food for the soul, and it will sustain us. It is sin, which is to say, transgression , that is the impoverishing element that wages war against the soul.

Therefor, I am suggesting that we cleave to the Old Covenant, without sacrificing the Grace of the New Covenant. We ought to practice the former without ignoring the latter, if we wish to be stronger people, spiritually.

Hey now!

It has been awhile, hasn't it? How've you been and how are you? I have been playing a lot of guitar, although I have taken the last couple of days off in order to blog a few things. I really believe I have a lot to say. More to you later. C'ya.