Fear No Fear

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

“The children of the half-tribe of Manasseh lived in the land. They increased from Bashan to Baal Hermon, Senir, and Mount Hermon. These were the heads of their fathers’ houses: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel—mighty men of valor, famous men, heads of their fathers’ houses. They trespassed against the God of their fathers, and played the prostitute after the gods of the peoples of the land whom God destroyed before them. So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgath Pilneser king of Assyria, and he carried away the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and to the river of Gozan, to this day.”
(1 Chronicles 5:23-26)

“When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they declared God to be just, having been baptized with John’s baptism. But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God, not being baptized by him themselves. “To what then should I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another, saying, ‘We piped to you, and you didn’t dance. We mourned, and you didn’t weep.’ For John the Baptizer came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Wisdom is justified by all her children.””
(Luke 7:29-35)

Not every Israelite chose to continue trusting in God. They believed He existed, He had performed mighty miracles leading them out of Egypt and leading them into the Land of Promise. But they also turned their minds and hearts to the idols of those around them. They mixed their worship and turned away from following Yahweh God Almighty with their whole hearts. They desired idols, so eventually God gave them that which they desired with their hearts. They wanted idols so badly, they were taken from the Land and lived as conquered people under idol worshippers. They got to see firsthand what living under idols was like. They got what they wanted. And they regretted it.

John the Baptizer came proclaiming that Messiah was coming. That it was imminent. That the people should repent, turn their hearts to God, and prepare to receive Him. But there were those among the Judean religious elite who had forgotten what true worship was about. They were consumed with rules and forms. They were not seeking God in their hearts. They were not worshipping with their souls (minds, hearts, and personalities). They were choosing dry words, not trust. They were putting their trust in their accomplishments and ability to keep those rules, instead of looking to God Himself. They rejected John for not doing things the way they thought he should, and then rejected Jesus for doing those exact things. They were refusing to see the message. They were choosing their way over God’s way.

Summary

Being saved is not complicated. It is simply a matter of choosing to trust in Jesus. Living as His disciple is also not complicated. It is choosing to obey Him by loving Him. We won’t rebel and choose any way but His if we truly love Him in every moment (1 John 3:9). Every time we sin it is because we don’t see His love for us and choose to love Him back in that moment. Every time we fail to look to God as our Source, we slip. It is simple, but hard. Because we have been conditioned our whole lives to a system of thinking, speaking, and acting that is contrary to trusting in God. That is the world system: choose self. We need to see beyond ourselves and look to God. To look to Jesus and let our love for Him guide us toward living like He did. Holy Spirit is given to us for many reasons. One of them is so that we have an encourager who always points us to Jesus. Always shows us how we can trust in Him. So that we don’t choose our own way, but choose THE Way every time.