13 “I don’t need the
bulls you sacrifice; I don’t need the blood of goats.
14 What
I want instead is your true thanks to God; I want you to fulfill your vows to
the Most High.
15 Trust
me in your times of trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.”
16 But God says to
the wicked: “Recite my laws no longer, and don’t pretend that you obey me.
17 For you refuse my
discipline and treat my laws like trash.
18 When you see a
thief, you help him, and you spend your time with adulterers.
19 Your mouths are
filled with wickedness, and your tongues are full of lies.
20 You sit around and
slander a brother – your own mother’s son.
21 While you did all
of this, I remained silent, and you thought I didn’t care. But now I will
rebuke you, listing all my charges against you.
22 Repent, all of you
who ignore me, or I will tear you apart, and no one will help you.
23 But giving thanks
is a sacrifice that truly honors me. If you keep to my path, I will reveal to
you the salvation of God.”
-Psalm 50:13-23 (NLT)
Over and
over, throughout the Old Testament, God calls rebellious Israel to repent and
return to Him. In the book of Hosea, we find a wife and mother that abandons
her husband and children to prostitute herself in the most degrading way. After
all the wickedness she has done, God commands Hosea, her husband, to buy her
back. This is a picture of God’s great love for us. As Paul wrote, “But God
demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ
died for us” (Romans 5:8, NIV).
But we must
remember, while God is love, He is also a just and righteous God. He must deal
with sin and rebellion. Over and over, He warns us; there will be no one who
will have an excuse.
In the
passage above, taken from Psalm 50, God is talking to His chosen people, Israel;
they were to be priests to the nations. We now live in the church age, and I
believe this applies to us today, as it did to them then. I especially believe
it pertains to the leaders in the church. So many preach feel good
sermons while life outside the church walls is in chaos. Too many of us want
our “ears tickled,” rather than hear the truth. We seem to believe if we can
cherry pick certain passages out of Scripture that make us feel good, it
justifies our behavior.
This simply
is not true. God requires us to give Him all or give Him none. We either
worship Him wholly, or we are doing nothing more than going through meaningless
motions.
How many
preachers/evangelists are warning of what is to come?
Are they
addressing current events in the light of God’s Word?
Do you seek
truth, no matter how uncomfortable, rather than feeling good?
Pastors,
deacons, bench warmers, we all need to repent and surrender our hearts, wholly
to God.
Friend, if
you know your heart is not right with God today, don’t wait another minute. Cry
out to God now and He will save you.
“If my
people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my
face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will
forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
But, this is
not simply a “Get Out of Jail Free” card, it requires total commitment on your
part. It means that you accept God’s will for you, even if it means giving up
your earthly possessions.
“For what
will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?”
(Mark 8:36, NKJV)
I believe we
are living in the last days. What we see daily aligns with what was written in
Scripture thousands of years ago. If you don’t believe me, search the
Scriptures for yourself. Please don’t wait until it’s too late.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment