Don’t Let All The Conspiracies Be Evil
The headlines are usually bad. Nations conspiring against nations, scandals and corruption in governments, corruption and abuse in charities, organised crime, businesses cheating the system, people cheating each other, and so on. It seems there are a lot of people in this world working hard to devise evil plans and then working together to carry them out. Which is nothing new. Isaiah wrote about the same thing hundreds of years before the first Christmas:
“…the schemes of the schemer are evil;
He devises wicked plans
To destroy the poor with lying words,
Even when the needy speaks justice.” – Isaiah 32:7 (NKJV)
He might as well have been writing about our world today. The question is: what do we do about these ever-present schemers with their wicked plans? Do we focus on protecting ourselves from them, or exposing their wrongs? Both of those responses can be good. But Isaiah takes a different direction in the next verse:
“But a generous man devises generous things,
And by generosity he shall stand.” – Isaiah 32:7-8 (NKJV)
In other words, he’s telling us not to leave all the scheming to the wicked. While they make their plans, let’s make our own. Let’s get busy devising generous things. Conspiring good plans, that will benefit and provide good for others. Shouldn’t we give at least as much thought and attention and effort to building the world up as the wicked give to tearing it down? Yes, the selfish plans of selfish people are always hurting others, especially the poor and needy. So what plans can we make to benefit them? Organised crime is more effective at evil because it is organised. So let’s be organised in our good. Won’t we be more effective that way? Let’s be intentional and work together at it. As the writer of Hebrews puts it, “let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24). This Christmas, let’s form a conspiracy. Let’s make some generous plans and carry them out. After all, isn’t Christmas when we remember how Jesus came to save us according to God’s eternal plan? He devised a generous thing, and carried it out. What generous things can we devise?
