‘That’s stupid; I’m not going to follow that’
Deuteronomy 31:26,27 “Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God. There it will remain as a witness against you. For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you have been rebellious against the Lord while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die!
Proverbs 16:2-5 All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord. Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. The Lord works out everything to its proper end—even the wicked for a day of disaster. The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: they will not go unpunished.
Isaiah 1:4 Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the Lord; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.
Isaiah 30:1,9 “Woe to the obstinate children,” declares the Lord, “to those who carry out pans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin . . . For these are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction.
John 6:31-33 Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat’” Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’
1 Samuel 15:22-23 But Samuel replied, “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.”
Romans 1:28-32 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
Most of us have an arrogant, selfish tendency. It seems it will take more than my lifetime before my sinful nature will be bridled. I need a bit in my mouth to stop some of my remarks, I need a bridle to turn me back into His direction and off the course I want to tread. And like most of those gorgeous, wild horses, it will take time and control and patience to break it. Even an old nag like me is taking a long time to be really broken and ready to behave!
There are many people in my life who have wonderful, giving, loving hearts, but they do not want to look to God for His mercies, confess their errors and see Him as the Savior He is. They do not believe there is an importance in knowing God as Creator, deity, Almighty, and feel and justify themselves as “good people”—and they are, usually better than I see myself. But that is still not a reason Jesus will let them in on Judgment Day. He will turn and say, “I never knew you.” They firmly and argumentatively claim they do not want to know a God who causes bad things to happen to good folks, that He chooses certain folks and not others, they see a lot of the crime, abuse and darkness in this world and attribute it to God. Some also claim, that throughout the bible god has destroyed peoples and why should they honor a god like that. But the denials are argumentative and self-righteous. And I cringe and try to point out that perhaps you have not read and understood the fact that WE brought sin into the world. We caused God’s desire of friendship and relationship with us to fall.
Many compare themselves to others, with a sense of righteousness and satisfaction, ‘well, at least I’m not as bad as so-and-so.’ That’s called justification and God does not care about comparisons. He cares about you and your heart, your sinful nature. That is a human trait to compare….behavior, possessions, clothing, figures, strength, etc, etc. A pretty endless list.
They, like many, want to blame God, challenge His sovereignty and justice. We misbehave and it is God’s fault…huh? Justifying one’s “goodness” does not make you good. There is only one who was/is good, and that is Jesus. Even as He descended into our sinful world and had all the temptations and means to sin, He did not. I frequently wonder how He got away with not falling into sibling rivalry, fighting, and carrying on.
There certainly are stories of violence and immediate punishment and death coming. God laid laws down when He first created Adam and Eve. “Do not eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil…” But, the beginning of the Fall…they did eat, they allowed their ulterior motive and selfish desire to reign… and sin became rampant. They needed to then be separated from God’s presence—a death from the constant communion and relationship they had enjoyed with Him. Many want to argue with what the bible says, and find God guilty, and an unfair judge. But these are people who do not know God, certainly do not know His words, have a relationship with Him, and have taken things totally out of context since they have not ever read the book. They have embellished a story or two they have heard and have not done research into who God is, the Creator, the Savior, and the Helper
As sin grew, then God would step in and punish. Sometimes the punishment was swift as in the man who stole things during a battle and kept a robe, gold, and silver for himself in the family tent. The entire family, including animals were stoned and wiped out of the Israelite camp.
God’s specific instructions had been to destroy all the city of Jericho, except Rahab and her family, but it certainly included any material from the city—it and all within the city was to be destroyed. Achan decided to take a bit for himself. As an example of God’s judgment, power, all-knowing and to show all His people the Israelites of the cost of sinning, He had them killed – with the Israelites casting the stones to kill them all. God does not tolerate sinning.
Good hearts do not allay the fact we all sin. We are not always without sin, no matter what WE think. “Everyone can be mad sometimes, everyone gossips every now and then, occasional sex with a boy/girlfriend is okay—this is the 21st century. Hmm, I haven’t read in the bible that promiscuity is okay beginning in the 20th century; I missed the part in the bible where it says it is now okay to talk about others and pass information on without knowing its truth and so forth. The Word has not changed. No one can edit it and take only the snippets they want to use to justify their actions to themselves. That still will not save you from an eternity in hell, and the loss of a relationship with the Savior before your physical death.
I find it frustrating to hear these people I love so easily pushing against God. Of course, there’s always time later. . . until there’s not. But in our arrogance and selfishness, we don’t see that. I pray their eyes will be opened to see and their ears opened to hear, and they face the truth and open the door to Him.
Thank You, God for your many blessings You have endowed to me—including my family and friends who at this point are choosing to believe they are in control and have no need of You. I am so thankful for all you have done for me and ‘mybellaviews.’
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