The consequences of saying no to God

Some days God uses the passages in my ‘read through the Bible’ to set me up for the reading in my New Testament devotional guide. This should not be a surprise considering the unity of Scripture, but when it happens, I am usually surprised.

This morning I read in Jeremiah. God sent this OT prophet to tell the people what would happen to them if they did not listen and obey. Their sin was extreme and He was going to have them overthrown by their enemies and taken into captivity. But they didn’t listen and were taken captive and held in bondage for seventy years.

The NT passage points to the same general principle: pay attention to what God reveals. Otherwise the consequences will be captivity and slavery to sin . . . 

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. (Romans 1:19–25)

The people in the OT had ignored God and fallen into idol worship and God sent them into the hands of their enemies. The people in the NT had ignored what they knew of God and He gave them up to their sin, sin that held them captive and resulted in “the due penalty for their error” (verse 27).

Although the sins are not the same in both testaments, nor are they the same as the sins in our day, the principle is the same: ignore what God reveals and experience the consequences. Not only that, those consequences will include bondage in the sense that sin will be served like a slave serves a taskmaster. It might be enjoyable for a time, but eventually groaning and sorrow will be heard.

I feel a bit like Jeremiah in that I want everyone to know that “sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23). Eventually there is a price to be paid. Even God’s people cannot escape this principle — sin has consequences. Only the mercy and grace of God can ease the pain, eventually even use our foolishness for good but otherwise, the most certain result is that whatever the sin is, it turns on us and will not let go.

The sin in Jeremiah’s day was not like the sin in Romans 1, but in both that sin balloons like a snowball rolling downhill. Eventually it takes over and instead of being something desired, it begins to ruin lives. Consider God’s command to raise our children in His ways. Those who do it are blessed but those who ignore God wind up wondering why their precious children are not the model citizens they hoped for.

Yesterday one of my Facebook friends posted this quote from Ravi Zacharias: “The reason we have 17000 pages in our law books is because we cannot follow 10 lines on a tablet made of stone.” It might be said that the reason we have so much awful stuff happening in our world is the same — we turn our backs on what God has clearly revealed. If we refuse the most basic commands, what more can God do? He will not ‘make us’ stop our rebellion. His offer is made and if rejected, we are left to our own devices.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, You are God’s answer to the bondage of sin. You died that we might not die but be forgiven. You rose again that we might have new life, Your life. You give us the power to escape our slavery and be set free, to reap the promise of eternal life and to experience Your grace and abundance in this life too. Jeremiah is called the ‘weeping prophet’ because no one listened to him. May God speak louder and help us pay attention.

Today’s thankful list . . .

Freedom to read the Word of God.

The Holy Spirit who enables obedience to God.

A lovely early morning one-hour chat with our granddaughter who lives far away. 
Safety on a two-hour trip to pick up and bring home my hubby’s newest motorcycle.

Sunshine even with those incredible thunder clouds overhead.

A nap after supper.

The Word of God to help me know what He expects!

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom

God’s people in the Old Testament had seasons of faithfulness, but it seems most of the time they were not. God sent many prophets to exhort and warn them. One, Isaiah, lived during the decline of Israel. He spoke the Word of God to a people who were “deaf and blind” and refused to listen. He warned that their sin would bring God’s judgment. Here is a portion of what he told them . . . 

“'Ah, stubborn children,’ declares the Lord, ‘who carry out a plan, but not mine, and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin; who set out to go down to Egypt, without asking for my direction, to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame, and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation.’” (Isaiah 30:1–3)

God had been good to them for decades, but they were bent on making their own plans and ignoring God’s direction, not even asking for it. This is so common today that I am amazed God does not strike us with lightning.

Yet a radio pastor included a true story in his message yesterday. He also spoke to God’s people about going ahead with sinful plans and thinking God would let them get away with it. These are people who should know better, people who have access to God and can ask and receive His guidance.

The story was about a Christian couple whose children were adults and the two of them were ready to find a retirement home. They looked and finally found the place they wanted. They talked with the owner, also a Christian, and expressed their interest. However, within a few weeks, the wife suddenly asked for a divorce. Her husband was completely bewildered as she told him she had found another man, actually the man who owned the house they planned to buy!

She left and moved in with this new lover. However, God was not looking the other way. Within a short time (only a week or two as I remember), the new lover had a heart attack and died. As the Bible says, “But if you will not do so (obey God), behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out.” (Numbers 32:23)

God doesn’t always deal with sin so suddenly. Otherwise, no one would live. But He can. Isaiah kept warning the people and told them . . .

“Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, ‘Because you despise this word and trust in oppression and perverseness and rely on them, therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach in a high wall, bulging out, and about to collapse, whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant; and its breaking is like that of a potter’s vessel that is smashed so ruthlessly that among its fragments not a shard is found with which to take fire from the hearth, or to dip up water out of the cistern.’ For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, ‘In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.’ But you were unwilling, and you said, ‘No! . . .’” (Isaiah 30:12–16)

Sin is a serious matter. Strong “I wants” do something to our ability to see clearly, even when they are legitimate wants. Escalate them to sin and think our holy God is not looking and does not care? I don’t think so. I know that deliberate sin has the potential to be deadly. It is by grace I am saved. God has brought me into His unshakable kingdom. My response to this is supposed to be gratitude, remembering that He is Almighty God and it is by His mercy that I live and breathe. Instead, as the writer of Hebrews 12 says, “Let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.”