“Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel. Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals.” Judges 2:8, 10-11 The Lord sold the children of Israel into the hand of Mesopotamia for eight years. Then the Lord raised Othniel who was Caleb’s younger brother and fought while Joshua was alive to be their judge. They had peace for forty years. Think about the rapid decline in faith and obedience. Once their leader of strength was dead and they were in their lands, they rebelled. It was practically immediate. One generation, just a few years and the fear of God was replaced with idolatry and rejection of God. Time passes and memories and testimonies don’t get passed on. The rebellion of a nation will cost that nation. We are all God’s people, Jew and Gentile alike, we are His. We are all responsible for upholding our end of the bargain. He created us and commanded us; we are to worship the Father and the Son. It is not forced upon us as we have a choice. I ask you, why wouldn’t you love and worship the one who gave you life and who gives eternal life to your soul in heaven? Yet, to get to heaven you must obey the commandments of God and our Lord Jesus Christ which we should all welcome because they cause us to be beautiful and kind and loving and prepares us for the peace of God’s kingdom. Do not think that we are impervious to the lure of this world. The Israelites fell victim to its trap just one generation following the miracles and the conquering of the Promised Land. We are many generations from the miracles of Jesus so we must remain vigilant in our devotions. We must reaffirm our convictions and faith day by day so that we can be sure of our salvation. It is easy to become preoccupied with ourselves and our lives. It is easy to deceive ourselves that we are doing enough. When you think you have done enough, do more. When you think you have prayed enough, pray more. When you think you consider God and Jesus enough, consider them more. When you think that you have read your bible enough, read more. You see, Jesus gave all and God gave us Jesus, therefore they gave all and we can never do enough, give enough or love enough in return. Yet, we should make the effort because one thing I do know, God loves effort. And we are to love God with all our minds, hearts, souls and strength and to love one another. “Uphold me according to Your word, that I may live; And do not let me be ashamed of my hope. Hold me up, and I shall be safe, And I shall observe Your statutes continually.” Psalm119:116-117 LOVE THAT CROSS. Pastor John Collins
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 13:02:00 +0000
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