Costly Disobedience

I Kings 16:34  It was during his reign that Hiel, a man from Bethel, rebuilt Jericho.  When he laid the foundations, his oldest son, Abiram, died.  And when he finally completed it by setting up the gates, his youngest son, Segub, died.  This all happened according to the message from the LORD concerning Jericho spoken by Joshua son of Nun.

God says what He means and means what He says.  Why is it that we so often have to learn it the hard way?  Or, is it that we simply don’t care?  God does not speak to just hear himself speak.  He speaks because He has something important to tell us, things that are for our own good.  He wants to spare us from our self-destructive ways and make it possible for Him to bless us.  But, we make it so hard on ourselves by not paying attention to what He says.

Do yourself a favor and pay attention to what the Lord has to say.  Keep your Bible open and read it often so you won’t miss it.  Meditate upon God’s words, pray over them, and then strive to live them.  Consistent time spent in His Word keeps us from forgetting His instructions or becoming confused by them.  We can’t do what pleases God unless we know what God expects of us.  We can’t avoid sin unless we read about it and recognize it when we see it.  We can’t discern truth from error unless we are students of the truth.

We are able to discern truth from false teaching as we stay in the Word.  We learn the value of obedience and the consequences of disobedience.  We learn a lot about God and about ourselves.  We learn everything we need to know about how to please God and be accepted by Him.

Wise is he who holds God’s Word close to his heart and obeys it.  God holds each of us accountable for what we know and how we live it.  He also holds us accountable for getting to know the Word given to us.  There is no excuse for ignoring what God says.  There is no excuse for not getting to know what God has to say to us and then living it.