Friday, July 26, 2019

Faith Impacts Our Choices - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 106:6-7,

"We have sinned, even as our ancestors did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly. When our ancestors were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea."

In this psalm the psalmist recounts the many ways in which Israel sinned against the Lord as they were delivered from Egypt, given the promised land and the manner in which they comported themselves in the land.

In addition to the indictment above, here are some other observations the psalmist made:

They soon forgot what the Lord had done when he delivered Israel from Egypt, verse 13, 21-22.
They tested God by doubting he could provide for them in the wilderness, verses 14-15, 32-33.
They became envious of Moses and Aaron and challenged God's choice of them to lead the nation, verse 16.
They exchanged their worship of God for idols, verses 19-20, 28, 36-39.
Israel despised the land God gave them, verse 24.
They didn't believe in his promise, verse 24.
Israel grumbled against the Lord and disobeyed him, verse 25.
They engaged in wicked deeds, verse 29.
Israel disobeyed the Lord by not destroying the peoples previously in the promised land, 34-35
They engaged in child sacrifice, verses 37-39.
They rebelled against the Lord, verse 43.

No doubt I missed a couple, but look at this indictment against Israel! There is one outstanding and common thread to each and every one of these ways in which Israel sinned: an absence of faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

I feel it would behove us to recognize that if we live a lifestyle of sin, we express a clear lack of reverence in and fear of the Lord. This can only be if we fail to embrace him in faith. When we embrace the Lord in faith, James tells us it will impact our life choices in the light of knowing him. Otherwise, we are just fooling ourselves.

Israel had all of the experiences they needed with the Lord to embrace him in faith, yet they failed to do so. Since the only way we can enter into eternal life is through faith in Jesus Christ, we best look at the choices we make to see if they reflect a true faith in him.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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