Thought for the Week - 13th March

Pastor Gareth Watkins
James 1:22
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

This verse implies there must be a Word of God spoken to you… otherwise you wouldn’t be able to listen to it and do it!  Even Jesus taught on the Word of God and to be doers of it.  All over the bible, people are given God’s Word and have to decide whether to listen to it or not.

In fact, it’s impossible to be a Christian if God hasn’t spoken to you.  If Christ hasn’t spoken to you, how can you be a Christian?  What have you got to hear if there’s no Word spoken to you, no conscience given to you, if there’s no spirit in you… what have you got to hear?  And if God hasn’t spoken to you, how can you be a believer in Christ?  How do you know what God’s Word is and what God’s Word isn’t if you haven’t had that Word given to you?  Every single Christian has had the Word of God given to them in one way or another.

The problem is that we often refuse to hear.    We have a stubborn and rebellious nature that holds us back.  In 2 Kings 15 and 2 Kings 18 we can see the Words given to the Kings and how they responded to it.  A lot of the ones listed were doing evil and following in the sins of their fathers, even though they knew the Word of God and the Laws of Moses.  All God wants is for us to be obedient to Him and go down the right path.  Hezekiah became the right man.  He listened to God and kept His commandments.  We can see in 2 Kings 18: 5- 8 that good news starts to happen for him – God blessed him, protected him and looked after him.

It can be the same in church life today.  There are those that won’t listen or yield, and end up leading different lives, that lead them down different paths.  The Christian life is about hearing the Word of God, holding fast and keeping the commandments He’s given us.

In 2 Kings 17:9 we read “The Israelites secretly did things against the Lord their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city they built themselves high places in all their towns”.  We must not obey our secret sins, whether they be wrong reactions, bad tempers or the secret sins that follow us through our family.  We are fallen creatures, but we have to work against our sinful natures to bring them under God.  God is God!  He is not fooled and won’t be mocked.  The Kings in the chapters above moved away from God and faced devastating results… results which weren’t because of God, but because of the decisions they made and the paths they followed.

The word “fear” appears throughout chapter 17.  That word appears because these Kings lacked obedience to God, and so there came a fear.  We can also have fears – whether it’s because we’re new, we’re afraid to pray out loud, don’t want to make fools of ourselves etc. – but remember that God hasn’t given us a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7)!  Fear springs from not being obedient to the Word of God.  Are you obeying the Word of God that’s come to you?

Not obeying the Word of God carries huge repercussions and has a visible effect.  Would you hear the voice of God and be obedient?  Or would you keep your secret sins?  You must bring your fears, those sins of the father, and those high places to God time and time again.

Amen.

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