I have a bulk, plastic container of dish soap with a sticker boldly requesting, “Please keep upright.” It is plainly said, implying dire consequences if the large bottle is not kept upright, which would be soap leaking over the counter, the sink and the floor. The soap company sweetly warns us against the dire consequences. They don’t need to come and to demonstrate the dire consequences to each customer. Anyone with elementary reading skills would be foolish or thoughtless not to obey the instructions!
The soap container warning has a spiritual slant. God is upright, just, sinless, faithful and perfect (Deuteronomy 32:4). David was upright and warned Solomon to be upright, too (1 Kings 3:6; 9:4). Job was upright, blameless of evil doing, and he feared God (Job 1:1, 8). Since God invented uprightness, He can instruct people about it, and His instructions are in the Bible with plenty of examples (Psalm 25:8). God doesn’t leave the dire consequences to our imagination.
He explained that if we tip over and spill our souls out over the earth, there won’t be anything left of us to get to Heaven. He, like the soap company, doesn’t have to come to each of us and demonstrate the consequences. It’s in the Bible. People who don’t keep upright are called perverted, evil, walkers in darkness, perverse, crooked and devious (Proverbs 2:6-15). God created humans upright, but we like to find ways to tip over (Ecclesiastes 7:29). Wise people seek to practice walking upright, but “unwise” people (the foolish, the thoughtless) stumble over or ignore the instructions. Paul made a list of the uprightness qualities and immediately spelled out the tipped-over qualities in Titus 1:5-16. God’s scepter is called “Uprightness,” and He rules His kingdom with it. Furthermore, He expects anyone who wants to live in Heaven to keep upright, too (Hebrews 1:8). Tipped over souls are not capable of dripping through the pearly gates. Please keep upright.
