Today's reading - 1 Samuel 8 - 12
The story of Saul as king over Israel is a curious one. The people had demanded a king after Samuel had aged out and his sons were acting improperly. So, God allowed them to have a king, they had rejected His leadership and sought to be like the peoples around them. Saul was selected and Samuel made it official through his anointing and so he ruled as king over Israel.
Many things are noteworthy as we read the history of Israel's transition from judges to kings. One of which is the idea that God's people can reject Him as their leader and all the ramifications that come from disobedience. God warns them that rejecting Him and demanding a king would take away their freedom and that they would become slaves to the king. (8: 17,18) God tells Samuel to solemnly warn them about what the king will do to them and their families, but the desire to be like others was too strong and they chose slavery over freedom. (this sounds familiar)
Another interesting thing to consider is that God changed Saul's heart and he began to prophesy with the other prophets. The Spirit of the LORD will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you. (1 Samuel 10:6,7) It would seem that God had taken control of Saul's life and he would do and act just as God demanded. But everyone who reads on a little further quickly recognizes that Saul was still free to exercise his will over the will of God. Not only is he free to do it, he does it... repeatedly. How can God change a man's heart, yet the man still be free to chose to live wrongly? And what is God's response to this kind of choosing?
Two good questions, with very complicated answers. What does it mean that Saul was "changed into a different person" and that "God was with" him? Could he now do "what he wanted to do" and still be God's chosen one? Did "what he wanted to do" change when he became a different person? Some would say that "we always do what we want to do" and that some want to do right because they are God's chosen, while others choose to do wrong because they are not of the elect. The story of Saul gives this concept a difficult time. Saul was God's chosen, yet he rebelled and God rejected him. (1 Samuel 15: 10-35) He disobeyed God's instruction and God "tore the kingdom away from him". Saul still had the ability to chose what to do and in return for those choices he received justice from God.
I have known many who came to God through His Son and saw in them a changed heart. They were a new creation, a different person and lived lives that brought glory to God. But then, for whatever reason they chose to leave God and return to a life of sin. Isn't that what the parable of the sower is all about.
Then he told them many things in parables, saying: A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop— a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. (Matthew 13:3-8)
Every person chooses to be one of these soil types. Some of us will choose to reject Jesus outright. Some of us will accept Him and quickly fall away because we are shallow. Some will accept Him and be faithful for years only to allow life to push Him out. But some will decide to come to Him and never leave and they will bear fruit for life. That is the story that Jesus tells about us. That is the story of Saul, his heart changed and he served God, but life caught up with him and he chose to please others rather than God. Saul paid a big price for his rebellion and we face the same outcome if we willfully chose to live a life without His leadership. God will reject those that reject Him.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Gleaning In The Fields
Now Naomi had a relative on her husband's side, from the clan of Elimelech, a man of standing, whose name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favour. Naomi said to her, Go ahead, my daughter.So she went out and began to glean in the fields behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.
Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, The LORD be with you! The LORD bless you! they called back. Boaz asked the foreman of his harvesters, Whose young woman is that? The foreman replied, She is the Moabitess who came back from Moab with Naomi. She said, 'Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.' She went into the field and has worked steadily from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.
So Boaz said to Ruth, My daughter, listen to me. Don't go and glean in another field and don't go away from here. Stay here with my servant girls. Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the girls. I have told the men not to touch you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled. (Ruth 2:1-9)
I have to believe that gleaning is a difficult job. It must be demeaning and demanding, but is also demonstrative. Let's think it through..... a person who has nothing, trespasses on another's property in order to collect the remnants in fields left behind the harvesters in order to feed themselves and their families. In Leviticus 19 and 23, God tells the Israelites to leave the gleanings for the poor and the alien.
I might be wrong, but my guess is that those that gleaned developed a bad reputation and were looked down on by society and were probably abused. (Boaz had to tell his men not to "touch" Ruth) Maybe not, but knowing how people think and talk, my guess is that the gleaners were not looked upon too kindly. So the story here is of a young widow that had followed her mother-in-law to her homeland that finds food in the fields of another. Hunger does something to a person's pride. (maybe that is why we are told to fast)
Today I am going to go in a totally different direction. I want to you and me to think about gleaning for the LORD. In Luke 10, we are told...The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. In our society, particularly in our hometown, it seems that everyone has heard about Jesus. One way or another, the message of salvation has gone out to almost every person. While we might not all agree on what that message is, most everyone has heard that God sent His Son to die for their sins. So, what do we do? Has the job of reaching the lost been completed? Are we satisfied to sit at home thinking that the field has been harvested?
Hunger does something to a person's pride. (I have heard that somewhere before) If we "hunger and thirst after righteousness", we will not be willing to ride the bench, thinking the game is over. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us that "the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." He is not satisfied when the fields still have any harvest left in them. God sent His Son for the "world", the whole world, not a select few.
God has called us to be co-workers with Him. "For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building." (1 Cor 3:9) When we go out into the fields to glean, God is right there with us. He hungers for every soul to be saved, even those that have heard the message and have rejected it or those that have not understood it. He is not satisfied with good enough, He wants every person to have the opportunity to love Him, because He already loves them.
Just like Ruth, we are gleaning in someone else's field. The harvest does not belong to us, but to the One that owns the field. Some fields are full and ready for the harvest, some fields have been harvested and finding the leftovers is more difficult and some fields have never been harvested. Whatever the situation you find yourself in, God says get into the field. He says "go", He says "make disciples of every nation", He says baptize them and teach them. (Matthew 28:18ff) The decision to work is ours, the work is and always has been available; the question for us is are we hungry?
Are you hungry? Or have you and I become desensitized to the work that God has prepared for us to do. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Eph 2:10) Think about it. Who will glean your part of the field if you don't show up? What will become of those that are left in your part of the field? Let's get up, grab our equipment and hit the field, God says the harvest is waiting. Glean on!
Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, The LORD be with you! The LORD bless you! they called back. Boaz asked the foreman of his harvesters, Whose young woman is that? The foreman replied, She is the Moabitess who came back from Moab with Naomi. She said, 'Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.' She went into the field and has worked steadily from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.
So Boaz said to Ruth, My daughter, listen to me. Don't go and glean in another field and don't go away from here. Stay here with my servant girls. Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the girls. I have told the men not to touch you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled. (Ruth 2:1-9)
I have to believe that gleaning is a difficult job. It must be demeaning and demanding, but is also demonstrative. Let's think it through..... a person who has nothing, trespasses on another's property in order to collect the remnants in fields left behind the harvesters in order to feed themselves and their families. In Leviticus 19 and 23, God tells the Israelites to leave the gleanings for the poor and the alien.
I might be wrong, but my guess is that those that gleaned developed a bad reputation and were looked down on by society and were probably abused. (Boaz had to tell his men not to "touch" Ruth) Maybe not, but knowing how people think and talk, my guess is that the gleaners were not looked upon too kindly. So the story here is of a young widow that had followed her mother-in-law to her homeland that finds food in the fields of another. Hunger does something to a person's pride. (maybe that is why we are told to fast)
Today I am going to go in a totally different direction. I want to you and me to think about gleaning for the LORD. In Luke 10, we are told...The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. In our society, particularly in our hometown, it seems that everyone has heard about Jesus. One way or another, the message of salvation has gone out to almost every person. While we might not all agree on what that message is, most everyone has heard that God sent His Son to die for their sins. So, what do we do? Has the job of reaching the lost been completed? Are we satisfied to sit at home thinking that the field has been harvested?
Hunger does something to a person's pride. (I have heard that somewhere before) If we "hunger and thirst after righteousness", we will not be willing to ride the bench, thinking the game is over. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us that "the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." He is not satisfied when the fields still have any harvest left in them. God sent His Son for the "world", the whole world, not a select few.
God has called us to be co-workers with Him. "For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building." (1 Cor 3:9) When we go out into the fields to glean, God is right there with us. He hungers for every soul to be saved, even those that have heard the message and have rejected it or those that have not understood it. He is not satisfied with good enough, He wants every person to have the opportunity to love Him, because He already loves them.
Just like Ruth, we are gleaning in someone else's field. The harvest does not belong to us, but to the One that owns the field. Some fields are full and ready for the harvest, some fields have been harvested and finding the leftovers is more difficult and some fields have never been harvested. Whatever the situation you find yourself in, God says get into the field. He says "go", He says "make disciples of every nation", He says baptize them and teach them. (Matthew 28:18ff) The decision to work is ours, the work is and always has been available; the question for us is are we hungry?
Are you hungry? Or have you and I become desensitized to the work that God has prepared for us to do. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Eph 2:10) Think about it. Who will glean your part of the field if you don't show up? What will become of those that are left in your part of the field? Let's get up, grab our equipment and hit the field, God says the harvest is waiting. Glean on!
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
It Became a Snare
And he said, I do have one request, that each of you give me an ear-ring from your share of the plunder. (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold ear-rings.) They answered, We'll be glad to give them. So they spread out a garment, and each man threw a ring from his plunder onto it. The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred shekels, not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains that were on their camels' necks. Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshipping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family. (Judges 8: 24-27)
Sometimes even the best of intentions can lead us astray. I have always heard that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Gideon intended to make something that would be a reminder of what God had accomplished for the Israelites, but in the end, it became a snare to him, his family and the nation of Israel. The word "snare" is defined as a trap or pitfall and a noose for catching birds. All of these definitions carry with them the idea of surprise. What bird intentionally strolls into a noose to be captured? What bear walks into a trap knowingly? Still, the end result is the same.... the animal is caught and their end is near. They become dinner or a wall hanging.
God is telling us that almost anything can become a problem. For a young man, a pretty girl can become a problem. To a young girl, the mirror or the scale can become a problem. To an old man, regret; an old woman, gossip. We don't intend for any of these things to become our god, but we wander into the trap and we are caught. On a personal level, we must be vigilant to be sure that nothing in our lives is elevated to the place that God belongs. Our lives must always be lived out with Him at the helm of the ship. Something that starts out good, can evolve into something bad, if God is not in charge.
As the church, we can allow our traditions and doctrine to become our god. Are traditions important? Sure. Is doctrine important? Sure! But neither of those things are God. When what we do or what we believe is elevated above who we serve, we have allowed them to become our golden ephod and God is not pleased. He calls it prostitution. We are married to Him, yet we are running around with another god. He demands to be the One that we worship and He demands that our focus, our loyalty be towards Him.
Did Gideon do something wrong? No. But what he did became the source of a problem. If we allow something that we do or something that we believe to usurp the place of God, we have fallen in to the snare. We have allowed that thing to trap us, whatever our intent was. When football, Nascar, shopping or .... you fill in the blank, begins to interfere with our time with God.... think of the golden ephod. When your girlfriend or boyfriend keeps you out of church to go.... you fill in the blank, think of the golden ephod. When pretty weather and your boat are a stronger pull than being with your spiritual family or serving those in need, think of the golden ephod. You get the idea.
Gideon had been a powerful warrior for the LORD. God had used him to "save Israel" out of the hands of the Midianites. We all know the stories about Gideon, but few of us knew he did something that led the Israelites into false worship. He never intended that to happen, but it did. We have individual and corporate responsibilities in this matter. We must not allow things in our personal lives to usurp God's place and we must not allow our church leaders to take us places that God has not authorized. Speak up, talk about your concerns or you may find yourself bowing down to a golden ephod one day.
Sometimes even the best of intentions can lead us astray. I have always heard that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Gideon intended to make something that would be a reminder of what God had accomplished for the Israelites, but in the end, it became a snare to him, his family and the nation of Israel. The word "snare" is defined as a trap or pitfall and a noose for catching birds. All of these definitions carry with them the idea of surprise. What bird intentionally strolls into a noose to be captured? What bear walks into a trap knowingly? Still, the end result is the same.... the animal is caught and their end is near. They become dinner or a wall hanging.
God is telling us that almost anything can become a problem. For a young man, a pretty girl can become a problem. To a young girl, the mirror or the scale can become a problem. To an old man, regret; an old woman, gossip. We don't intend for any of these things to become our god, but we wander into the trap and we are caught. On a personal level, we must be vigilant to be sure that nothing in our lives is elevated to the place that God belongs. Our lives must always be lived out with Him at the helm of the ship. Something that starts out good, can evolve into something bad, if God is not in charge.
As the church, we can allow our traditions and doctrine to become our god. Are traditions important? Sure. Is doctrine important? Sure! But neither of those things are God. When what we do or what we believe is elevated above who we serve, we have allowed them to become our golden ephod and God is not pleased. He calls it prostitution. We are married to Him, yet we are running around with another god. He demands to be the One that we worship and He demands that our focus, our loyalty be towards Him.
Did Gideon do something wrong? No. But what he did became the source of a problem. If we allow something that we do or something that we believe to usurp the place of God, we have fallen in to the snare. We have allowed that thing to trap us, whatever our intent was. When football, Nascar, shopping or .... you fill in the blank, begins to interfere with our time with God.... think of the golden ephod. When your girlfriend or boyfriend keeps you out of church to go.... you fill in the blank, think of the golden ephod. When pretty weather and your boat are a stronger pull than being with your spiritual family or serving those in need, think of the golden ephod. You get the idea.
Gideon had been a powerful warrior for the LORD. God had used him to "save Israel" out of the hands of the Midianites. We all know the stories about Gideon, but few of us knew he did something that led the Israelites into false worship. He never intended that to happen, but it did. We have individual and corporate responsibilities in this matter. We must not allow things in our personal lives to usurp God's place and we must not allow our church leaders to take us places that God has not authorized. Speak up, talk about your concerns or you may find yourself bowing down to a golden ephod one day.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Make Tassels
The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by chasing after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God. (Numbers 15:37-40)
God knows we have short memories. He understands that life happens and the urgent things often replace the important things. My car brakes down, I am stranded on the road and I forget the blessings of God. My child misbehaves and I react badly and forget that he/she is a gift from God. I am very successful at whatever I do and I forget that it is God that gave me the ability to do it. You get the idea.
God called on the Israelites to sew tassels with a blue cord on the corners of their garments. Some Jews still do this today. To us, it seems a silly thing, tassels on the corners of our garments, to the Jew it is a binding command that they must keep under the Law. Like every command, God had/ has a purpose in giving it. He tells us that these tassels were to be a constant reminder of the commands of the LORD and that they were obligated to obey them.
God knew that they needed something that would remind them on a constant basis of His involvement in their lives, His authority over their lives. Each day, as they dressed and saw the tassels, they were reminded of His commands and the relationship they had with Him. As they walked the streets, tassels blowing in the wind, they would remember His leadership in their lives. When they saw their friends and family members, they would see the tassels and be reminded of Him. Everyone, everywhere.... wearing tassels, declaring the sovereign LORD to each other, reminding each other to be consecrated to Him.
What about us? Do we need ongoing reminders of our relationship with God? Do we need something to daily, even hourly call our attention to Him? Or, are we so spiritual that we never forget to live consecrated lives before a Holy God? Think about it. We don't have the tassel command to live with any longer, but do we need something that calls us to better lives before us? I understand that we don't have a command, but if it was a good idea for the Israelites, do we not have the same need?
I know I do! Too often, I find myself mindlessly doing things that give no glory to God or benefit to me or those around me. I encourage us, you and me to think about his, to consider what we can do to keep God present in our minds as we live out our lives in service to Him. Some wear rings, some crosses, some bracelets or other items to declare to themselves and to those around them that God is LORD of their lives. Understand that I am not giving a command where none exists; rather, I am asking if we need to consider what we can do to keep our focus on God in our daily lives.
Hebrews 12:2 tells us to fix our eyes on Jesus. He is to be constant in our lives that keep us from forgetting what we have through Him. I understand that. This is the first blog post that I am ending with a request from you the reader..... I want to hear what you think. Do we need "tassels" today to remind us and declare to others that God is LORD of our lives? Andif you think we do, give me some ideas about what those "tassels" could be. Let me hear from you.
May God richly bless you as you serve Him.
God knows we have short memories. He understands that life happens and the urgent things often replace the important things. My car brakes down, I am stranded on the road and I forget the blessings of God. My child misbehaves and I react badly and forget that he/she is a gift from God. I am very successful at whatever I do and I forget that it is God that gave me the ability to do it. You get the idea.
God called on the Israelites to sew tassels with a blue cord on the corners of their garments. Some Jews still do this today. To us, it seems a silly thing, tassels on the corners of our garments, to the Jew it is a binding command that they must keep under the Law. Like every command, God had/ has a purpose in giving it. He tells us that these tassels were to be a constant reminder of the commands of the LORD and that they were obligated to obey them.
God knew that they needed something that would remind them on a constant basis of His involvement in their lives, His authority over their lives. Each day, as they dressed and saw the tassels, they were reminded of His commands and the relationship they had with Him. As they walked the streets, tassels blowing in the wind, they would remember His leadership in their lives. When they saw their friends and family members, they would see the tassels and be reminded of Him. Everyone, everywhere.... wearing tassels, declaring the sovereign LORD to each other, reminding each other to be consecrated to Him.
What about us? Do we need ongoing reminders of our relationship with God? Do we need something to daily, even hourly call our attention to Him? Or, are we so spiritual that we never forget to live consecrated lives before a Holy God? Think about it. We don't have the tassel command to live with any longer, but do we need something that calls us to better lives before us? I understand that we don't have a command, but if it was a good idea for the Israelites, do we not have the same need?
I know I do! Too often, I find myself mindlessly doing things that give no glory to God or benefit to me or those around me. I encourage us, you and me to think about his, to consider what we can do to keep God present in our minds as we live out our lives in service to Him. Some wear rings, some crosses, some bracelets or other items to declare to themselves and to those around them that God is LORD of their lives. Understand that I am not giving a command where none exists; rather, I am asking if we need to consider what we can do to keep our focus on God in our daily lives.
Hebrews 12:2 tells us to fix our eyes on Jesus. He is to be constant in our lives that keep us from forgetting what we have through Him. I understand that. This is the first blog post that I am ending with a request from you the reader..... I want to hear what you think. Do we need "tassels" today to remind us and declare to others that God is LORD of our lives? Andif you think we do, give me some ideas about what those "tassels" could be. Let me hear from you.
May God richly bless you as you serve Him.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Personal Responsibility
(Exodus 21)
The nation of Israel needed civil law to exist as an orderly society and God provided a very detailed and fair system for the people to live under. Many of our laws find their basis in the laws of the Old Testament. The overwhelming message contained in these laws is that of personal responsibility. God had given each person a free will to exercise in their conduct and decision making. He could have made them parrots to sit on his shoulder and repeat His words and thoughts; but instead He made them in His image and gave them a good mind and the ability to choose.
Included in this gift of "free will" from God is the idea of personal responsibility. When the Jew chose to break God's law, there would be consequences. If he wronged his neighbor, restitution must be made. If his carelessness caused someone else harm, he was personally responsible to fix it. Kill your neighbors goat, give him a new goat. Your bull kills the neighbors bull, and your bull had a bad reputation, your neighbor gets a new bull and you get the carcass of the dead animal. Your animal grazes on the field of another, you must give your neighbor the best of your crops. On and on, it is always personal responsibility.
God expected them and He expects us to examine situations and chose the right response based on His law. That is way it has always been; He tells us how we are to conduct ourselves and we chose whether or not to comply. When we comply, He blesses. When we rebel, He punishes.
“Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
So the people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods.” (Joshua 24:14-16)
Following God or rejecting Him has always been a choice that man must make. He gives us free will and tells us who He is and what He has done for us; then let's us choose whether to follow Him or our own desires. Some would argue that we are not able to make that choice, that our eternal destiny was already determined before we were born. They would say that some people are born to be destroyed, while others were born for eternal life. While I agree that some will chose to reject God and will be punished, I believe that the Bible makes it very clear that it is a matter of personal responsibility. Every person has the ability to respond to a loving God, but not everyone will. Better phrased, not everyone will respond in a way that moves them from the lost column to the saved column.
I am responsible to listen to God's word in order to have faith. (Romans 10:17) I am responsible to study to show myself approved. (2 Timothy 2:15) It is my responsibility to respond to the gospel and take action to become God's child. (Acts 2:36-38, Acts 8:12) I am responsible to live out a life of service to God, even unto death. (Revelation 2:10) God leaves the choices to me. He tells me the outcome of rebellion and HE tells me the blessings of obedience. After that, it is up to me to chose for myself this day who I will serve. The choice is up to you, it is up to me. The call has gone forth, the invitation is always available.... The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. (Revelation 22:17) Whoever wishes!
The nation of Israel needed civil law to exist as an orderly society and God provided a very detailed and fair system for the people to live under. Many of our laws find their basis in the laws of the Old Testament. The overwhelming message contained in these laws is that of personal responsibility. God had given each person a free will to exercise in their conduct and decision making. He could have made them parrots to sit on his shoulder and repeat His words and thoughts; but instead He made them in His image and gave them a good mind and the ability to choose.
Included in this gift of "free will" from God is the idea of personal responsibility. When the Jew chose to break God's law, there would be consequences. If he wronged his neighbor, restitution must be made. If his carelessness caused someone else harm, he was personally responsible to fix it. Kill your neighbors goat, give him a new goat. Your bull kills the neighbors bull, and your bull had a bad reputation, your neighbor gets a new bull and you get the carcass of the dead animal. Your animal grazes on the field of another, you must give your neighbor the best of your crops. On and on, it is always personal responsibility.
God expected them and He expects us to examine situations and chose the right response based on His law. That is way it has always been; He tells us how we are to conduct ourselves and we chose whether or not to comply. When we comply, He blesses. When we rebel, He punishes.
“Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
So the people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods.” (Joshua 24:14-16)
Following God or rejecting Him has always been a choice that man must make. He gives us free will and tells us who He is and what He has done for us; then let's us choose whether to follow Him or our own desires. Some would argue that we are not able to make that choice, that our eternal destiny was already determined before we were born. They would say that some people are born to be destroyed, while others were born for eternal life. While I agree that some will chose to reject God and will be punished, I believe that the Bible makes it very clear that it is a matter of personal responsibility. Every person has the ability to respond to a loving God, but not everyone will. Better phrased, not everyone will respond in a way that moves them from the lost column to the saved column.
I am responsible to listen to God's word in order to have faith. (Romans 10:17) I am responsible to study to show myself approved. (2 Timothy 2:15) It is my responsibility to respond to the gospel and take action to become God's child. (Acts 2:36-38, Acts 8:12) I am responsible to live out a life of service to God, even unto death. (Revelation 2:10) God leaves the choices to me. He tells me the outcome of rebellion and HE tells me the blessings of obedience. After that, it is up to me to chose for myself this day who I will serve. The choice is up to you, it is up to me. The call has gone forth, the invitation is always available.... The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. (Revelation 22:17) Whoever wishes!
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