September 30, 2022WWJWMTD by Steve, the son of John

God laments: “If Only they Would Obey”

Psalm 81:13 (NET)

If only my people would obey me!

If only Israel would keep my commands!

14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies,

and attack their adversaries.”

Holy Spirit highlights certain verses in every season for every generation. I believe Psalm 81:13 is a shout-out from God’s heart for ours. He wants us to obey Him fully and completely. Yet in the last seven decades, we as the nation of the USA have turned our collective backs on Him and chosen to do things our own way.

No prayer in schools? Sure, that’s fine. And while we’re at it, let’s discredit the Bible too, it’s a bunch of hate speech anyway.

Abortion? It’s only a fetus, it can’t feel any pain anyway. And while we’re at it, let’s give families the option to end the lives of their old family members as well. Is no one there at your elderly care home to visit you? Just end your life, we’ll help you; you have no more contributions to society anyway.

Divorce? Oh sure, you must be happy. Your partner was a jerk anyway. The kids will easily adapt to the new reality. And while you’re at it, make sure you live with your next partner before marriage, it will help you figure out faster if she or he is the right one. But why even bother with marriage, it is such an antiquated idea. You should be able to love anyone or as many people or anything you want.

I want to change my biological gender. That’s fine, whatever you want, we just want you to feel okay with who you really are, (and we want fewer reproductive people too). And while we’re at it, let’s say self-harm and self-cutting are okay too. We’ll even teach you how to hide it from your parents or guardians.

In fact, let’s distract you so much with social media, current events, and bad news that you have no time to think about God, only about yourself.

I wonder sometimes how much we are like the Israelites who lived in past times. They complained on the journey to the promised land and then 40 years in the wilderness because of disobedience to God’s timing because the enemies were so big. Or how about the next generation after entering the promised land; they disobeyed God about how to take over the land and ended up being swept into the popular culture of the residents. Or how about during the time of the Judges; they followed a popular leader until he or she was dead and then they went right back to doing their own thing.

Or how about right before the Babylonians came in and enslaved them; many were doing what was right in their own eyes. Their government was leading them astray. They had cut the anchor to God from their nation and His commandments; they had taken down the sails of responsiveness to the wind, representing the Spirit of God, and were floating aimlessly in the morass of human whim and preference. Or how about after they returned from 70 years in exile? They wanted to follow God but did not know what to do and had little backbone to rebuild God’s temple until Nehemiah came along.

Every leader in the Bible had a shortcoming, what made David stand out was that he was quick to repent, his hunger for righteousness, a worshipful heart for God, and he kept his heart loving towards his people. This verse expresses his longing well:

Psalm 86:11 (NET)

O Lord, teach me how you want me to live.

Then I will obey your commands.

Make me wholeheartedly committed to you.

What made the prophets stand out was their total surrender to God’s commands. For example, saying something when they knew it would make people angry. Or physically doing very uncomfortable things like Ezekiel laying on his sides for over a year. The smaller prophets like the unnamed one that stood up against Jeroboam would have been fine had not the silky words of a cracked old wineskin did not deter him from his mission.

Even Jesus asked us to do things that were very offensive. For example, in John 6:35 (NET) Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me will never go hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty.” But then it gets offensive in verse 53 “Jesus said to them, “I tell you the solemn truth unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves. 54 The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood resides in me, and I in him.” To be fair, the context was right after Jesus had fed the 5,000+ people and they wanted to make Him king for the wrong reasons—because they could get something out of Him. It seems he was trying to turn them away intentionally.

God doesn’t want us to choose Him because He can do stuff for us. He wants us to choose Him because we love him and will obey his commands. John 14:15 (NET) says “If you love me, you will obey my commandments. 16 Then I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept because it does not see him or know him. But you know him because he resides with you and will be in you.” Did you notice how with obedience comes the Holy Spirit? Do you notice how the implied in this verse is that the “world” will be offended by Holy Spirit?

What does that mean for you and me? Looking back to Psalm 81:13 (NET) verse

If only my people would obey me!

If only Israel would keep my commands!

14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies,

and attack their adversaries.”

The United States of America and any nation or person that turns to follow God’s ways in humility and repentance will have their enemies vanquished, God’s provision, and Holy Spirit’s perfect help. But following Holy Spirit will lead you into many clashes with people who are still following their own way as well as people empowered by God’s enemies. Do you want God’s way enough to be willing to be at odds with and sometimes embattled with most people? Perhaps that’s why Jesus’ parable in Matthew 22:1-14 or Luke 14:15-24 of an extremely wealthy man’s invitations to the wedding party ends with “Many are called, but few are chosen,” or as The Message version says, “Many get invited; only a few make it.” Which side are you on?

By Timothy Brinkley/writer, teacher, & educator

WWJWMTD

What would Jesus want me to do?

Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com

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