Fear No Fear

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

““I will heal their waywardness.
    I will love them freely;
    for my anger is turned away from them.
I will be like the dew to Israel.
    He will blossom like the lily,
    and send down his roots like Lebanon.
His branches will spread,
    and his beauty will be like the olive tree,
    and his fragrance like Lebanon.
Men will dwell in his shade.
    They will revive like the grain,
    and blossom like the vine.
    Their fragrance will be like the wine of Lebanon.
Ephraim, what have I to do any more with idols?
    I answer, and will take care of him.
    I am like a green cypress tree;
    from me your fruit is found.””
(Hosea 14:4-8)

  “Do this, knowing the time, that it is already time for you to awaken out of sleep, for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed. The night is far gone, and the day is near. Let’s therefore throw off the deeds of darkness, and let’s put on the armor of light. Let’s walk properly, as in the day; not in reveling and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and lustful acts, and not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, for its lusts.”
(Romans 13:11-14)

God itemized His grievances against Israel. He told them EXACTLY what they were doing wrong. He did this so that they were not in any way surprised when judgment caught up with them. He didn’t stop there, however. He also gave them words for how to repent. He detailed the process they needed to follow to come back to Him. He showed them how simple it was. How heartfelt it needed to be. And He also described His response. How He would act toward them. Not angrily. Not smiting. But loving, accepting, and generously. He loved them. He needed them to know that He wanted GOOD things for them, and not bad. If they would only choose to obey. To humbly submit and accept the blessing. If they would practise true worship.

Paul pointed out to the Romans that practising for doing evil was the worst plan. He’d already referenced Hosea. Shown from the biblical record the foolishness of going our own way instead of God’s Way. It was time for them to get serious about the Lord. To realize that it was a whole package. A whole picture. It wasn’t a Sabbath-only relationship. It wasn’t a sing-in-the-good-times arrangement. Claiming a love for the Lord, but spending your time training in ungodly behaviour was foolishness. It was the opposite of what should have been happening. They needed to grasp a hold of Jesus and not let go. To get serious about their worship, serious about their relationship with God, and to practise what God said was good and right.

Summary

We have the world at our fingertips. But why do we want it there? Why do we want to study how they grieve? How they deal with sickness and disease. How they treat each other. How they inflame one another with lust and then look to ‘education’ to solve their issues with birth control, abortion, and teenage sexuality. Why do we want to know how they deal with identity? We have a textbook that clearly shows us God’s point of view. That explains God’s moral character. That introduces us to the right ways, the good things, and the proper way to have a relationship with God. All the other stuff, all those things of the world, they’re in there too. In how we function as human beings. God shows us His Way. We can choose to spend our time scrolling and learning about how the world is doing things, or we can choose to spend our time reading, thinking, examining, and learning about how God says things work and how they should work. We can learn about His love and embrace that. We can align ourselves with Him and become lights in the darkness. Examples for the world to learn from. To walk out what God enables us and strengthens us to walk out. It’s a choice and we need to make it daily.