I must at all times engage in the “ministry of a clear name.” But it must be God’s name, not mine. The clear name ministry is one in which I represent God as He truly is. I must not spend my time clearing my name, for that is God’s responsibility.
The sin of Moses that kept him out of the Promised Land was dishonoring God before the people (Numbers 20:10–13). He struck the rock instead of just speaking to it, thus disbelieving God and desanctifying Him in the eyes of the Israelites (v. 12). To deliberately disobey God is to disbelieve Him, and that, especially on the part of a leader, is to humiliate Him before His people. God will not tolerate humiliation by any of His servants because it is a shadow of Lucifer’s sin of elevating himself above God I Isaiah 14:14).
My duty is to elevate, sanctify, honor, and clear God’s name before the people at all times, as Jesus did: “I have glorified thee on the earth” (John 17:4, KJV). Now I understand why God punished Moses so severely: he was a leader, his sin was public, and he sorely wounded God’s glory.
If I spend my time clearing God’s name, I will have no time to clear my own. I must never be willing to justify myself, as the young lawyer did (Luke 10:29). There is a time, of course, to “reason together” with God (Isaiah 1:18), during which God is willing to hear all my arguments and reasons for a certain thing. But once God has given His verdict, self justification should stop and God justification should begin. This is the mark of a mature disciple: do I make my brief for God, or do I plead my own case in the eyes of men? If I “fulfill the royal law” I will know the “worthy name by … which [I am] called” (James 2:7–8, NSRB); if I “let [my] light … shine before men … [I will] glorify [my] Father, who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:l6, NSRB).
“O Lord, open my lips, that my mouth may declare Thy praise” (Psalm 51:15).
Daily with the King 