Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.”
(Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

“This again you do: you cover Yahweh’s altar with tears, with weeping, and with sighing, because he doesn’t regard the offering any more, neither receives it with good will at your hand. Yet you say, ‘Why?’ Because Yahweh has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and the wife of your covenant. Did he not make you one, although he had the residue of the Spirit? Why one? He sought godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. One who hates and divorces”, says Yahweh, the God of Israel, “covers his garment with violence!” says Yahweh of Armies. “Therefore pay attention to your spirit, that you don’t be unfaithful.”
(Malachi 2:13-16)

Solomon was incredibly rich. And he was a king. And he had a lot of time on his hands. And he was smart (scientist, ecologist, zoologist, poet, mathematician, etc). He spent a LOT of time investigating life. Taking work to the absurd. Taking pleasure to the absurd. He did it all. What he concluded was that obeying God and doing life God’s way was the only worthy thing to do, because in the end, once you’re dead, you face God alone and have to account for everything. If you do things the way God said to do them, you’d be golden. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t. So it just made sense. It was the biggest provable thing about life: doing it God’s way was THE way to do it.

The priests the Malachi was writing to had stopped doing things properly. They were accepting sacrifices that God said didn’t qualify as sacrifices. They were doing things their own way, and not the way God said they should be done. They were failing to keep all of the Law the way God said they should keep it. They weren’t doing their jobs, they weren’t fulfilling their roles, and they were being half-hearted with everything. Instead of sticking to the commandments they once had loved and honoured, they were going their own way and doing things how THEY wanted to. They didn’t care. They were being unfaithful to their trust in God. They weren’t doing it God’s way anymore.

Summary

God gave us free will. He gives us a choice. And He encourages us to do it His Way. Because it is the best thing for us. When we don’t do it God’s Way, we aren’t getting any benefit from it. Worse, we’re slapping God in the face and saying we know best. That OUR ways are perfect. That what WE want is more important. There is a LOT of thinking like this sprinkled throughout the Church. It’s dangerous thinking. If there is something in the Word we don’t like, WE need to change, not the Word. The Word is THE WORD OF GOD – it is NOT simply a collection of words ABOUT God. Humbly submit to what you find in the Word. Obey the Lord. Lean into what He wants, what He says it right and good. Renew your mind to HIS thinking and put yours away. This doesn’t mean stop critically thinking. It means realise that His point of view is THE valid point of view and see things from His eyes, His position. It makes ALL the difference in life. Do life God’s way and have ABUNDANT life.