I hadn’t taken the time to draw near
to the Lord and enjoy being in His presence for several days. I’m not going to give any reasons, for they
would be mere excuses. I didn’t sleep
much again last night and was feeling weary this morning. Even so, I shrugged off the inclination to
just lie there in hopes that somehow I might be able to drift off into a deep
sleep. I felt Him calling and beckoning me
to meet with Him, as though He was saying, “Come on Ginger. Haven’t you missed our time together even
just a little bit? I won’t keep you long
if you don’t want me to.” I pulled
myself out of bed and went to our special meeting place – my recliner. Picking up my Bible, I ran my hands across it
before opening it, as if I might be able to touch the very hand of God just by
being close to His precious word. All of
God’s word is more precious than silver and gold, but I confess that the Psalms
and Proverbs hold a place of special affection within my heart. I turned to Proverbs 2 and began to read once
again from His instructions about how to live life according to His precepts,
seeking His wisdom and knowledge, that I might understand more fully the vital
importance of understanding and walking in the fear of the Lord.
As I read, words which I have often
heard spoken by those who have not yet learned to love God or His word, popped
into my mind: “The Bible, what good is it?
Who wants to have anything to do with something that is nothing more
than a useless list of do’s and don’ts?”
This expression is often used by scoffers, as if the speaking of them
was a rational reason to look upon God’s word as no more than words written by
mere men, or as useless garbage that should easily be discarded and thrown into
the nearest trash can. It would always
make me bristle to my very core and want to respond, in a not so Christian way,
by telling them what absolute idiots they were.
Over the years, I hope I have learned a bit more about the importance of
not speaking every thought that comes into my mind.
At any rate, after reading a couple of
chapters, and enjoying every minute of “tasting” the goodness of the Lord and
His word, I began to contemplate upon the idea of the word being merely a list
of do’s and don’ts. Instead of just
wanting to discard it as the rationalization of any unbeliever for ignoring God
and His word, I asked myself to consider the possible influence of that
assumption, even in such limited boudaries?
Understanding that an unbeliever is not going to have any idea of the
person and role of the Holy Spirit, who guides every believer into the
understanding of the wisdom and knowledge of God, I began to consider the
statement itself and question, “Ok, what if the word was only a ‘list of do’s and
don’ts?” Of course, I don’t believe
that. But just for the moment, I was
willing to explore the idea to decide for myself, if that’s all it was, would
or could that list, or standards and requirements, still have worth or value in
shaping and changing a life for the better?
Does God’s standards of right and wrong, when activated and practiced in
one’s life serve to produce to improvement within the person and in the
person’s actions and behavior towards others?
To begin with, I considered just the Ten Commandments and the
possibility of their consequences in a person’s life. If someone read them and tried their best to
apply them in their life on a consistent basis, even if they did not believe in
the One who was the author of them, would they be an instrument to work for
good or for bad in life? I compared
their possible effect with a similar effect of being able to understand the law
of gravity and its application in life.
If I were to ignore the law of gravity by deciding to walk off the edge
of a cliff, would the truth of the law become null and void and of no
effect? Would my choice of not believing
in the law stop me from falling to my death? Of course not! The law of gravity is true, and it’s going to
work whether I choose to believe in it or not.
Applying that law and acknowledging its truth can only serve to protect
me and make my life safer, and even longer.
So it is with God and His word. I
could personally choose not to believe in God or His word, but that is never
going to have the effect of changing or diminishing the truth of His word; it
only means that I will have robbed myself of the transforming power of His word
in my life.
God’s do’s and don’ts are meant for my
good, not for my harm. The fact that I
may choose not to believe or apply His word, in the living of my life, can only
serve to block God from helping me to live out His purpose for my life. I can think of only one reason why anyone
would want to ignore God and His word, and that is because His directions
may tend to get in the way, making His way inconvenient for us, if what we
desire is to go against them, preferring to go our own way, to live a life that
is self directed instead of God directed.
Man, in his natural fallen state, is full of pride, and therefore finds
it much more appealing to deny Christ as Savior and Lord, and deny His right to
have authority over and in our lives. It
isn’t really that the unbeliever doesn’t live by a set of rules, standards, or
do’s and don’ts. The problem is that he
wants to retain for himself the right to be the only one having the authority
to make up those rules to suit his own desires at any given time and place. As the song “I Did It My Way” says, man wants
to follow his own path and not be “restricted” or “constrained” by anything or
anyone else; thereby, exalting himself to the position of the only god in his
life. It’s easy not to have to accept
responsibility for your own actions, good or bad, if you have no one above
yourself to hold you accountable.
Sad to say, in rejecting God and His
authority, we also are choosing to divest ourselves of all His many blessings
that His Holy Spirit would gladly pour out into our lives, blessings of peace,
love, joy, hope, and yes, forgiveness of sin and eternal salvation, given freely
by the grace and mercy of God who has loved us first. So, in reality, it’s not the do’s and don’ts
that really bothers us, it’s the fact that they are established as absolutes by
someone else other than ourselves, and they are not relative, up for debate, or
changeable to suit our own desires. To
top it all off, the scriptures, or do’s and don’ts as some have called them, point to God as the only one who has the
authority to decide what sin is or is not, and we don’t like to acknowledge
God’s right to have authority over our lives.
We prefer to think that there are many paths to God, because we think
that by so doing, we can then choose any path that suits us, and ignore the
words of Jesus: “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh to the
Father except by me.” (John 14: 6) “If a
man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will
come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not
my sayings: and the word that ye hear is not mine , but the Father’s which sent
me. These things have I spoken unto you,
being yet present with you. But the
Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He
shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever
I have said unto you.” (John 14: 23 – 26)
That’s plain, clear, and does not depend upon your own personal opinion
or private interpretation. It’s not the
gospel according to Ginger; it’s the gospel according to Jesus Christ, the Son
of God. Put not your trust in your own
works, but repent, ask for forgiveness, and trust in the works of Jesus Christ,
who was crucified, resurrected from the dead, and ascended unto heaven, and
sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. Believe and receive Jesus Christ as your Lord
and Savior, and you shall be saved by the mercy and grace of God.
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