Guard your appearance

"Abstain from all appearance of evil." 1 Thessalonians 5:22 KJV

Larry Macon, aka Marathon Larry, is quite a celebrity in the world of distance running. Officially he holds the record for the most marathons run in one year and claims to have completed over 2,000 marathons in his lifetime (despite having started at the age of 52). And while Larry has been described as an inspiration by many, his claims recently came under scrutiny after he was caught skipping a 0.2-mile section of the 'Mo Bell Marathon multiple times on August 4th. When confronted with the accusation, Larry apologized for the way things might have appeared but assured the race director that he went back after the finish and made up the mileage. As you can guess though, Larry's profession of integrity is not being readily accepted.

And you know, as this story shows, displaying even a hint of dishonesty can ruin a person's reputation and stain the legacy they leave behind. Paul certainly understood this and so issued the church at Thesallonica, and us, this warning... "abstain from all appearance of evil." In other words, you and I, as followers, are to always conduct ourselves in a way that gives absolutely no appearance, or impression of being dishonest, wicked, corrupt, sinful or immoral to the world around us.   

So knowing how easy it would be to not only tarnish our character but our witness by being amoral or dishonorable, may we restrain ourselves from doing anything that gives the "appearance of evil." And by doing so lead others to Christ because of the things we don't do.

Heavenly Father, help us to be so like You that the world knows we are set apart. Help us to refrain from ever compromising our beliefs to fit in with the world. And most of all, help us to yearn to follow You and the path that You say is right that others might follow and come to seek salvation. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!!!

Trust and obey - Chelsea Moon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McwKhtzMk0A