"But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:
Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers."
Jeremiah 7:23-26
You know, sometimes we look at the Old Testament (or other scripture) and think, why would they do that? And we think that if we were in that situation, we would TOTALLY listen to the prophets, or do what God said, and avoid those negative consequences. :) But are we, like them, moving backward and not forward, and doing worse than our fathers?
God offered our ancestors a screaming deal. Here he is, a being that has intelligence and abilities just at a guess at least 21 orders of magnitude greater than ours. Probably closer to infinite, but let's use a number just for comprehensible comparison. He offered to help them, if they would just follow his instructions about how to have a better life. And it seems like most of them were like "nah, we prefer to screw up our lives."
The huge thing is that God still offers us the same opportunities. If we will obey him, he will be our God, and we will be his people. If we walk in the ways that he commands us, it will be well with us. :) He still sends us prophets. We have the ability to tap into that huge amount of knowledge and power, and make our lives at least ten times better than they are now. It is our choice. God is asking us every day if we want to cash in on his deal, or whether we prefer to screw up our lives.
Today, let's take advantage of the amazing deal God has offered us. Let's do as God asks and learn the lessons he asks us to learn. Let's read and pray and learn to love God and our neighbors. Let's find out what the prophets have said and follow their advice. If we do, not only will we be overwhelmed with God's spirit and his love, but our lives will be better than we could ever dream of making them ourselves. Let's move forward and not backward.
But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:
Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers."
Jeremiah 7:23-26
You know, sometimes we look at the Old Testament (or other scripture) and think, why would they do that? And we think that if we were in that situation, we would TOTALLY listen to the prophets, or do what God said, and avoid those negative consequences. :) But are we, like them, moving backward and not forward, and doing worse than our fathers?
God offered our ancestors a screaming deal. Here he is, a being that has intelligence and abilities just at a guess at least 21 orders of magnitude greater than ours. Probably closer to infinite, but let's use a number just for comprehensible comparison. He offered to help them, if they would just follow his instructions about how to have a better life. And it seems like most of them were like "nah, we prefer to screw up our lives."
The huge thing is that God still offers us the same opportunities. If we will obey him, he will be our God, and we will be his people. If we walk in the ways that he commands us, it will be well with us. :) He still sends us prophets. We have the ability to tap into that huge amount of knowledge and power, and make our lives at least ten times better than they are now. It is our choice. God is asking us every day if we want to cash in on his deal, or whether we prefer to screw up our lives.
Today, let's take advantage of the amazing deal God has offered us. Let's do as God asks and learn the lessons he asks us to learn. Let's read and pray and learn to love God and our neighbors. Let's find out what the prophets have said and follow their advice. If we do, not only will we be overwhelmed with God's spirit and his love, but our lives will be better than we could ever dream of making them ourselves. Let's move forward and not backward.
No comments:
Post a Comment