“Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.”
Psalms 78:1-3 KJV
I happened upon this Psalm this morning after my reading (now in Leviticus); a seeming recap of all I've read recently!
Then I read:
“For all this they sinned still, and believed not for His wondrous works. Therefore their days did He consume in vanity, and their years in trouble. When He slew them, then they sought Him: and they returned and enquired early after God. And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer.”
Psalms 78:32-35 KJV
Mankind has not changed in all of these centuries! Nothing is new under the sun.
It took disasters; it took death to turn the people back to God, and it still does today. It did me.
I remember bargaining with God: "Oh God if only You will . . . then I will follow you forever!" As soon as the crisis was over I forgot my vow; but He didn't! It took my mother's death to put me back on the road to finding Him!
In a recent lesson a friend taught, she confessed and repented of reading her Bible and judging the children of Israel for their sins, and then doing the very same thing! And so have I! I even remember, as a small child, reading about how they treated Christ and saying in my heart, "I would never do that!" I judged them! Oh, I have done what they did and so much worse! Why He puts up with such stiff necked and stubborn people is the mystery!
“Nevertheless they did flatter Him with their mouth, and they lied unto Him with their tongues. For their heart was not right with Him, neither were they stedfast in His covenant. But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned He His anger away, and did not stir up all His wrath. For He remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.” Psalms 78:36-39 KJV
They were walking with Him; in fact He was leading them day and night and "their heart was not right with Him!" They too were not steadfast!
He knows how we are, because He made us! But that does not make our sin okay with Him!
“How oft did they provoke Him in the wilderness, and grieve Him in the desert! Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.”
Psalms 78:40-41 KJV
They loved their sin more than they loved God! And so do we.
Yet, every time we fall, and when we come to our senses, He is there to offer His hand to pick us back up - when we turn back to Him.
Repentance, turning back to God; forsaking our evil ways! It is not a one time event, but a daily walk on that hard, narrow road.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:9 KJV
We have to know what sin is and we have to know to confess and repent!
Yet, the church today does not teach about sin. Talking about sin makes people uncomfortable! So most are unaware that unforgiveness is sin! So is bitterness, unbelief, gossip, fear, anger, judging, stubbornness, grumbling and complaining!
“If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”
1 John 1:10 KJV
His Word is not in us, for we do not read His Word! To know God you must read your Bible!
I challenge you to read it cover to cover like any book! If you do not understand it, then you need to ask God to open your eyes, open your ears and change your heart, so that you can receive The Word from Him!
It is way past time for us to get serious about our walk with The LORD! Time is running out! Repent now, while you still can!
“Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.” Joel 1:15 KJV
Even so - MARANATHA!
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