Lamentations 1:18 NASB
18 The LORD is righteous,
For I have rebelled against His command;
Hear now, all peoples,
And see my pain;
My virgins and my young men
Have gone into captivity.
Long before Jesus Christ was born into this world, the nation of Israel thought they were secure in their standing with God.
After the exodus from Egypt, after being given the inheritance of the land by God and settling down to wander no more, as time passed, as new generations were born, the nation of Israel grew further and further away from God.
The nation of Israel began to rebel, and to be disobedient to God’s commandments, as He told them they would be. They worshipped other deities. They broke the commandments. They relied on their strength and on the strength of the nations around them. They rejected the words of God that He sent through the prophets, and they went as far as to imprison and kill some of those prophets. They broke the covenant that God had made with them.
I think Israel may have taken God for granted, and relied too heavily on the sacrifices of animals, and in their traditions, thinking that they would always be secure, and that they would never face judgment or wrath.
However, God brought Nebuchadnezzar from Babylon to destroy Jerusalem and take the tribes of Judah and Benjamin captive. The other 10 tribes who had previously broken away, were given over to the king of Assyria.
It’s a sobering example that we should be paying attention to as well.
Are we not also guilty of doing the same thing today? We mock the ones who try to warn us to turn back to God and away from the things of this world. We say our “God forgive me of my sins and save me” prayer and then just keep going on doing whatever we want to do without ever making any change in our lives, even deliberately doing and participating in the things scripture tells us God hates, and we justify it to make it all ok so that we never feel guilt or conviction.
We hyper focus on how God is a God of love, peace, and order, and completely ignore that God is also righteous, holy, and is also a God of judgment, of wrath, and of fury. We tell ourselves our loving God would never allow anyone to end up in hell. And we also ignore the scripture that tells us that God is going to pour out His anger, wrath, judgment, and fury upon this world.
God made His terms explicitly clear. He never changes. Why do we try to change Him? Why do we not learn from the examples of the past? Why do we continue to rebel and be disobedient?
I have a sinking feeling, fear even, that many of us are going to find out we’re not as secure in our standing with God as we think we are.
So what do we do?
I believe we need to repent. I believe we need to ask God to reveal to us exactly what He feels about the things we try to justify. I believe we need to spend more time in prayer and in scripture. I believe we need to be analyzing our desires, thoughts, and beliefs against that scripture. I believe we need to afflict our souls and deny ourselves. I believe we need to howl out to our God for His mercy. I believe we need to let go of doing things and the “well we’ve always done it this way” mentality. I believe we need to stop relying on our own understanding. I believe we need to pay a litttle more attention to the people who warn us about the things we’re doing.
Paul said something that makes me ponder.
Philippians 3:12-14 NASB
12 Not that I have already grasped it all or have already become perfect, but I press on if I may also take hold of that for which I was even taken hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not regard myself as having taken hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
1 Corinthians 9:26-27 NASB
26 Therefore I run in such a way as not to run aimlessly; I box in such a way, as to avoid hitting air; 27 but I strictly discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
1 Corinthians 10:11-12 NASB
11 Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. 12 Therefore let the one who thinks he stands watch out that he does not fall.
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