My Daily Pause

An etching by Jan Luyken illustrating Matthew 22:11-14 in the Bowyer Bible, Bolton, England.

It has become fashionable across Christianity to deemphasize strict obedience to the God’s word. Many emphasize just the aspects that they like and skip over the rest. Those who try to follow and teach what the Bible teaches are often called “legalists.” Ironically, the “gospel of love” they teach omits that part where Jesus said to keep his commandments if you really love him. (John 14:15) Admittedly, it is not hard to understand why this position sells so easily.

First, I respond to that position by saying that being obedient is not the same as being a legalist.

Second, I respond to the position by saying we should look at what Jesus taught. The Parable of the Wedding Feast is a great place to study this. (Matthew 22:1-14)

We’ll pick up the illustration where the invitation has been opened to all who would come and the king arrives. (Matthew 22:11) He takes a look at everyone who has “accepted” the invitation, but finds one who is unprepared to be there. The guest is asked to account for this infraction and he is stunned to silence. (Matthew 22:12)

Why was he silent?

• He knew he had insulted the occasion
• He knew he had no excuse
• He couldn’t say he never had a chance

Sadly, many that have convinced themselves that it is ok to “come as they are” will find themselves in the same situation as this guest. In the same way that the expectation is for the guest to have known better, so it is for us at the judgment. Those not properly attired in obedience will be cast out.

What are some ways we can be better prepared for when the King returns?

Avoid letting sinful decisions become a thorn in the side

Man has a history of modifying God’s word to meet his needs.

• Nadab and Abihu made a custom mixture and created strange fire (Leviticus 10:1-3)
• Moses was too embarrassed to speak to the stone for water and struck it instead (Numbers 20:8-12)
• Jonah didn’t want God to save Nineveh if they repented (Jonah 4:1-4)

The children of Israel were no different. They were supposed to drive the inhabitants completely out of Canaan, but they did not. Their disobedience ranged from taking the natives as slaves to allowing the natives to live among them as they took control of the land. (Judges 1)

God revoked his promise to drive the natives out and allowed them to become a “thorn in the side” of Israel. (Judges 2:3) We see throughout the rest of the Old Testament that God’s chosen people were drawn away from him by the sins and temptations of Canaan’s descendants. In all of the cases of disobedience, we see that God did not clean up their mess.

Even now, man continues to modify God’s word to suit his needs. And even now, man is getting himself into sinful jams that are more and more difficult to get out of. Take for instance:

• Religious denominations: These were created by man’s slight changes from God’s word being taught as truth. How does a professional minister for one of these repent?
• Divorce and remarriage: Through recent years, divorce has gotten easy to get for reason other than adultery. How do you break up an unbiblical marriage that has produced children?
• Taking and keeping jobs that keep us away from the church: How does a person that becomes financially dependent on such a job quit so it stops weakening his or her faith?

This is the nature of disobedience. Making decisions contrary to God’s word to suit our needs and weakly justifying them has serious implications but fools us into thinking we’re OK. If you are not where you need to be spiritually, a serious look back at the choices you’ve made could help you see the way back to the correct path.

Daily Reading for July 22

Song 1:9-2:7
Judges 1
Jeremiah 17
Matthew 28