“Sin
whispers to the wicked, deep within their hearts. They have no fear of God at
all. In their blind conceit, they cannot see how wicked they really are” (Psalm 36:1-2 NLT).
“Have
it your way.” Burger King’s slogan is really the motto of the American society.
We like to have things our own way. We like to pick and choose pretty much
everything, from what we have, to what we do, and to what we believe, etc.
There
are a lot of people who approach Christianity in this way. They believe in God,
but they only want to accept certain elements of Christianity. It is like as
one writer said, “God created us in His image and we take and return the
favor.” We make God in the image we want Him to be in. “I’ll take the love of
God; but, I don’t want His wrath. I want the mercy of God; but, I don’t want
His righteous judgment. I want His blessings in my life; but, that whole take
up your cross and follow Him daily is just not for me.”
We
tend to love the part of the Bible that tells us that God has a wonderful plan
for our lives, but there are parts of the Bible that seem so outdated to us.
Like for example, we think, “Who actually practices sexual purity anymore?” We
tend to like the fact that God was generous with us, giving His One and only
Son on the Cross. And we like that He promises to provide for our daily needs.
However, we don’t like that God’s Word commands us to tithe and be generous to
others, so “Let’s just skip those parts.” And we like the promises that He will
work all things out for our good, day in a day out. But we think, “Weekends are
mine, so I don’t care if God commands me to worship Him corporately and
encourage other believers on Sundays, that’s my day to play and get things
done.”
Sin
has a way of whispering into our hearts. Then we rationalize our decisions, not
even realizing what we are blinding ourselves to sin. This is a very dangerous
place to be according to the Bible. Take for example the account of two men, Nadab
and Abihu (Lev. 10:1-2). These two individuals sincerely desired to worship God
but in their own way, rather than the way He had commanded. And as a result,
God struck them dead. Now, I’m not saying that God is going to struck you dead
(and I’m praying that He will not). :)
We
could look at other examples from Scripture of people who practiced Customized
Christianity, however, none of them ended with results they wanted. Therefore,
I implore you to learn to reverently and lovingly fear (respect) the Lord. We
need to follow Him as He directs throughout the Bible, not just the portions
that we like. (Did
we not learn this from our parents—we have to obey all of their rules, not just
some of them? Of course we all did.)
The
Bible says that the fear (a healthy fear, and respect) of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom (Pro. 9:10). “Fear
of the LORD is a life-giving fountain; it offers escape from the snares of death” (Pro. 14:27). And Proverbs 22:4 says, “True humility and fear of the LORD lead to
riches, honor, and long life.”
Learning to fear the Lord, following Him as His Word commands is not a bad
thing; rather, it leads to blessings. So may we fear the Lord, and follow Him
completely.
In
His service,
Matt
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