Thou Shall Not

But Peter and the apostles answered, 

“We must obey God rather than men.”

Acts 5:29

Thoughts~

My long ago past is littered with pink slips of disobedience. I understand how Paul feels when He talks about what a sinful life he lived. Count me in, Paul! I’m right there with you. When I reflect on how I lived, even though I was a believer, I wonder how I survived those days where I did my own thing and ignored God’s word. Yes, I was saved, but, did I trust the Lord? Did I follow Him? Did I obey Him? Absolutely not. I was sowing my wild oats and God allowed me all the room I wanted.

Even as I write this blog post, I am cringing at some of the ways I ignored God. And I am so incredibly thankful for His forgiveness. He is Holy and God hates sin. Again, GOD HATES SIN! And as long as we continue sinning, He is often going to allow us the freedom to sin because we are not robots wired to say yes. We have been given free will; to choose Jesus as our Savior or reject Him. To say “Yes, God, I will obey You” or “No, sorry Lord, my way is more fun. You are kind of old fashioned, you know.”

Sin isn’t talked about much in many churches today. The church staff worries that if too much sin is mentioned, people will not feel good after the service is over. They worry about people being comfortable and happy. They worry that the word “obey” turns people off. They worry about numbers.

God doesn’t worry about numbers in church.  He knows the true hearts of every single person that is sitting in every single church pew or chair around the world.  He knows who is pretending to love Him and who really does.  He knows who is there for free coffee, donuts and a fluff sermon and who is there to grow in the word of God.  He knows. He sees. He forgives. And He wants us to stop sinning. He wants us to obey Him.

Action~

It’s important to listen to the word of God and know that every single word was inspired by God. Not just some of it. There is no compromising when it comes to God’s word. Trust me on this: Paul and I have been there and it isn’t pretty.

Now is the time for you to listen to God.  The Holy Spirit is alive in believer’s hearts and He will show you what needs to be changed in your life.  He will show you were you are not obeying and where you are compromising. This may hurt your feelings but I wish someone has talked to me a long time ago.  I wasted years of my life living apart from God even though I was saved. I was a lukewarm Christian who did not care what God had to say. God since has certainly used my story for His glory when I share my testimony, but those years I would rather forget and still live with the consequences.

Ask yourself if you are obeying God or man.

Pray~

Father, I know what obedience is and I want to follow You and not live by my own whims. Thank You for forgiving me for my disobedience. Give me Your power and strength to live an abundant life. Give me a new bounce to my step, a joyful love for Your word.

Trusting in Him,

Becky