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WHAT DO YOU THINK
IMPRESSES GOD THE MOST?
"Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry."
(1 Samuel 15:22-23).
In our over-all personality as an individual or as the body of God's church, what do you think impresses God the most? If we have to meditate on this question, what do you think would please God the most about you, about us? I am sure; we will come up with a lot of interesting thoughts - in our playful minds.
For example, will God be pleased with us the most because of our exceptional knowledge about the new moon? Undoubtedly, the Church of God, In Truth alone can lay claim to truly worship God on its appointed time, no other. We came to realized that the man-made Jewish counterfeit calendar will never give us the opportunity to worship God in truth and in spirit. Aside from the fact that they have erroneously considered the biblical new moon at the molad they also designed a way to postpone it to facilitate their own convenience and personal pleasure. "There is a way which seems right to a man but its end is the way of death" (Proverbs 14:12).
What about our knowledge of God's three appointed harvests, will it impress God? Of yielding fruit after its kind - The resurrection of the first group of the first fruit out of the barley harvest during the Feast of Unleavened Bread? What about our understanding of giving our hollowed offering only three times in a year instead of 7 times that we used to do before? And even our understanding of Christ death on a Wednesday of April 1, 33 AD would that impress God? All of these are Bible based doctrines that could serve as our valuable tools in strengthening our confidence and faith in pursuing the ultimate realization of our dreams. These minefields of Bible knowledge are truly impressive and astounding. Nonetheless, since they are all God-given gifts we can safely venture to say that they won't impress God none at all. Notice this enlightening statement from Christ Himself.
"Whom do men say that I am?" Some said He was a glutton and a winebibber" (Matthew 11:19). Other said He was demon-possessed (John 7:20). King Herod, probably because of His strong denunciation of sin thought He was John the Baptist (Matthew 14:2). And for fearlessly rebuking hypocrites in high places to include the miracles He performed here and there, some thought He was Elijah, or Jeremiah or maybe one of the prophets (Matthew 16: 14).
"…. But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him. Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 16:15-17).
Jesus Christ came into a world that is spiritually blind. Humanity as a whole does not know that there is a Father. "I praise you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes…..All things have been delivered to Me by My Father and no one know who the Son is but the Father and who the Father is but the Son and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him"(Luke 10:21-22).
Knowledge of God the Father and His way of life are revealed knowledge. It was then and is still true even to this day. In other words, all this knowledge, all these scriptural understanding we have in the Church of God, In Truth - are something we could not take personal pride of because they are miraculously acquired knowledge from the source of all wisdom. "Even the mystery which have been hid from ages and from generations but now is made manifest to His saints" (Colossians 1:26). For this reason, while they may be the greatest miracle given to His chosen few at this present dispensation yet they could not stand to impress God the most.
But what impresses God the most about you and me - is the way we obey Him. And speaking of obedience, we could not help but cite the example set by the patriarch Abraham, the friend of God. Abraham's faithfulness and stunning obedience still speaks out from the distant past, a monumental legacy of a man whose unquestioned obedience to the great God remained captured forever on the scrolls of Moses.
"Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of" (Genesis 22:2).
It is hard to imagine the happiness, the delight and great joy of Abraham and Sarah when God gave them a son of their own. He was ninety-nine when the promised was made, one hundred when Isaac was born (Genesis 21:5). Both Abraham and Sarah had past their child bearing age. Isaac therefore was their "son of promise,"born to them through and by the power of God.
What must have gone through Abraham's mind when God commanded him to sacrifice his only son? How Abraham's stomach must have wrenched during the night thinking of what a detestable thing he was going to do. The Bible example is unbelievably stunning!
"And Abraham rose up early in the morning,, and saddled his ass. And took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God have told him" (Genesis 22:3).
With each agonizing steps taken, with every mile and distance covered, with every hill passed by, no one knows exactly what was going through Abraham's mind. Romans 4:16-21 sheds light and explained the reason why Abraham was called the "Father of the Faithful." "He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform." We are left with no room to doubt that Abraham was totally committed, resigned completely and determined to follow through whatever it may take.
Just as Abraham had prepared everything, with his son tied up atop the pile of wood serving as an altar, he took the knife, raised it up to strike the killing blow when he heard the voice of God through an angel; "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am," " Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me" (Genesis 22:12). This certainly is one of the shining moments in the history of humanity, a sterling display of what a tough obedient character could be at its best.
Abraham saw a ram caught in a thicket by his horns from behind and offered it a sacrifice instead of Isaac. "By Myself have I sworn, saith the Eternal, for because thou hast done this thing, and has not withheld thy son, thine only son; That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seeds as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore, and thy seed shall possess the gates of his enemies. And in thy seeds shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice" (Genesis 22:16-18).
A considerable number of Bible prophecies concerning Abraham and his descendants had been fulfilled. The remaining few are fashioned out to completion at the closing years of this age. One thing is sure, because of Abraham's incredible strength of character in obeying God, he will surely be a pillar in God's future government.
"Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot; they eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one, who is in the field, let him not turn back. REMEMBER LOT'S WIFE" (Luke 17: 28-32).
The two angels who came to confirm report of the wickedness and perverted way of life taking place in the city have seen enough during the night and forcefully took the lingering Lot, his wife and two daughters out of the city early the next morning (verse 16). There is no time to wait any longer. The angel's last minute instruction was for them to run for their lives and don't ever dare stop to look back (Genesis 19:17). Lot's family sensing the urgency of the angel's call, and hearing the terrifying roar of fire and brimstones closing in as they fled away tripled their steps and run as fast as their feet could take them away from the city now in flame (verses 17-23).
It was at that uncalled instant that Lot's wife hesitated. She felt some unknown compelling force urging her to look back - even just for one fleeting moment to take one last look at the city she had learned to love, the beautiful house she left behind, and their hard earned possessions acquired through the years, so are their relatives and friends. Defying God's clear command Lot's wife turned her back. As she had her last glimpsed of the on- going devastation of the city, she was crystallized into a pillar of salt. From this true to life story, we can now see a profound lesson from Lot's wife. Just as Sodom represents the evils of Satan's society, so Lot's wife had come to symbolize the people whom God had called out of this world only to make a fatal mistake of turning their back. "REMEMBER LOT'S WIFE." She made the wrong choice of disobeying God and paid the price so high.
Another classic lesson we could learn on this subject of obedience or of disobedience is through the life of King Saul. To the people around him, Saul was pretty impressive. He was not only one of the best looking men in the nation but was one of the tallest throughout the land (1 Samuel 9:2). His physical structure easily draws people's attention. At one point in his life, Saul exhibited also some kind of spirituality. He "prophesied" among the prophets (1 Samuel 10:11-12). Naturally, the people were very impressed.
At the height of his notable successes as king, however, Saul developed a very serious spiritual problem. He began to esteem himself too high. His great mistake is recorded for us in 1 Samuel 15. God through the prophet Samuel instructed Saul to totally destroy the nation of the Amalekites. Verse 3 shows that he was to destroy " both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox, sheep, camel and ass". This he did not do. Verse 9, shows that Saul spared King Agar and the best of the animals. This aroused the anger of God and sent Samuel to inform Saul that because of his disobedience God had rejected him as king.
During the confrontation, Saul blamed the people for his disobedience by justifying his actions saying that they spared the good things of the land in order to sacrifice to God (verses 20-21). Saul was trying to make something evil look very good. Samuel cut through Saul's self-deception and get right to the heart of the matter. "… Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, He hath also rejected thee from being king" (1 Samuel 15:22-23). Reading through the lines, God is driving home a very important lesson for His people. God desires obedience above all else.
Remember the incredible display of faith and obedience of Abraham at its finest. Remember as well, the stubbornness and defying conduct of both Lot's wife and King Saul. The footprints of their lives are stamped on the pages of the Holy Book -a living monument of the priceless lessons they left behind that will remain with us forever.
Romeo Samudio
"The footprints of their lives are stamped on the pages of the Holy Book"
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