IT'S NOT WORTH IT: DON'T DESPISE THE WORD OF GOD

Beloved, I heartedly welcome you into the year 2019. May all that God has prepared for you this year become a reality in your life in Jesus name. As this year commences, we must bear in mind and understand the very source of our lives and living is God. And to enjoy all that God has prepared for you this year, you must be ready to follow Him as He leads and instruct you in every aspect and facet of your life. Refusal to lay down your reasoning and opinions and follow His own will, there are consequences, hence this admonition. 

Many of us have put ourselves in a place of the know it all, we think we can saddle the affairs of our lives and seem not to follow the bishop of our lives for proper directions through life storm and tempest. The Bible says in 1st Corinthians 1:25, “…the foolishness of God is wiser than men.” Did you just read that? In your praised wisdom by men, it is God’s foolishness. Why not follow yourself and follow as He leads and avoid dire consequences you are suffering today? You can never know the way more than the way Himself (John 14:6). 

If you have ever taken the moment to conduct self-reflection, you may have pondered the many aspects of your life that involved a bad decision and its outcome. Perhaps someone warned you not to do or even say something that you would ultimately be to your detriment. In haste and disobedience you do the opposite of what someone suggested that you don’t. During your period of reflection, you may feel a sense of regret over your life’s choice. Every one of us can attest to a time in which we were warned not to do something, yet in our pride we bypassed a word of wisdom and reason. The consequences of doing so usually meant an unpleasant experience or even a negative impact relating to your life as a whole. The fact is that when we are warned of matters and we ignore a heed to avoid calamity there will always be a negative consequence. 

Romans 15:4 say, “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of scriptures might have hope.” Everything written in scriptures was documented so we can catch wisdom and avert dire consequences. King Saul lost his kingship and kingdom because of him not fully following the instructions of God (1st Kings 15:1-28). “Utterly destroy” was the instruction given him but he did otherwise and the repercussion of his disobedience caused his life never to remain the same again. 

In the book of Jeremiah 25, we can see that the prophet Jeremiah is once again speaking to the people of Judah. Jeremiah tasked with telling the nation of Judah to repent and turn from their sinful ways. As the scripture says in verse 4, the prophets who were assigned to relay God’s message did so over and over again just like it is in our day. In verse 4-6, Jeremiah told the people of Judah that they have essentially ignored the many messages that were given by the prophets. However, the consequence of such ignorance is displayed in the next few verses of chapter 25. Verses 7-9 say, “Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the Lord; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your hurt. Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts. Because ye have not heard my words. Behold, I will send and take all the families of the earth, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.” 

In the above verses, God’s message to the people of Judah is clear in that, because of their disobedience, their land would be utterly destroyed. The people of Judah had committed many forms of idolatry in addition to living in rebellion. Essentially, the fate that the nation Judah suffered was that of destruction at the hands of king Nebuchadnezzar’s military which later resulted in the people of Judah being held captives by the Babylonians for 70 years according to verse 11. The point is that, the people of Judah not only ignored the many warning that God had given, but they eventually experienced negative repercussions as a result of it. 

Many are where they are now, not because God has destined them to be there, but through consistent ignorance of God’s instructions (God’s word), they are in a place of regret, pains, captivity and disappointment just like it was for the children of Israel. 

Brothers and sisters, God is revealing unto you His mind towards you in this year 2019 in Jeremiah 29:11, He says, “For I know the thought that I think towards you saith the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Why not follow god through the obedience of His word and allow Him take you by the hand and lead to that expected end. 

Make up your mind this year, to be an ardent follower of God’s word this year. Make up your mind to be not just a hearer of the word but a doer also and you will see God’s divine plan unfold before you. 

God bless you. See you next month.