Is it still a "Do Not"?

A word to the wise is sufficient, that was the council of my dad, and yet often I proved that I was not wise and punishment was what I reaped.  As the chosen children of God followed Moses out of Egypt, God gave them a choice, “Blessing or Curses” and that is still the choice for each of us who are followers of Christ.  “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20 ESV) 

How far we have moved as a culture from the “Blessing and Curses” to an attitude of our culture, it is someone else’s fault?  We make sure that no child is a winner or looser, that all get the trophy and then we wonder why as adults they cannot handle life, for all of life is making lemonade out of the lemons that come into our lives.  But this does not seem to be a new problem, for Edom was not about how God had blessed them, but was angry that God was blessing Jacob, or Judah. 

And this was what that action reaped: “Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever. (Obadiah 1:10 ESV)  You and I should be very careful for I’m fearful that we often do not see our actions as God sees them.  This was what the people of Edom did: “    On the day that you stood aloof, on the day that strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them.  But do not gloat over the day of your brother in the day of his misfortune; do not rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their ruin; do not boast in the day of distress.  Do not enter the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; do not gloat over his disaster in the day of his calamity; do not loot his wealth in the day of his calamity.  Do not stand at the crossroads to cut off his fugitives; do not hand over his survivors in the day of distress. (Obadiah 1:11-14 ESV)

God has given a word to the wise and because God has not changed, we should take these instructions to heart, if it was a “Do Not” then, is it not still a “Do Not”?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice