Back then, I thought I knew it all. I actually thought I new far better than my parents. At times, I could be quite the disobedient child.
I often wonder why people can be so inclined to sin (doing what is wrong in the eyes of God). Is it something that is in our nature? As Christians, how do we keep ourselves from steering away from God's Grace? If we say we love, worship and honour God, are we willing to follow God's word?
By exploring the results of steering away from God, I believe we can come to understand why such reactions are so crucial to our understanding.
When Adam and Eve disobeyed God's command by eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they immediately experienced what I believe was the greatest consequence of their disobedience - separation from God [spiritual death]. For the wages of sin is death.
The book of Jonah (in the Bible) also gives a good illustration of what happens when we refuse to obey God's command. In the book, God asks Jonah to go to Nineveh to preach against their wickedness, but Jonah instead chooses to run away from God to a completely different place. Not only did Jonah's disobedience have a great impact in his own life, but the lives of others too (Jonah 1 verses 1-17).
But the good thing is God always provides a way out if we believe and trust in Him. God loves and cares for us so much so that he had to find a way to restore our relationship with Him. That is the death and resurrection of his son, Jesus Christ. The very nature of God demands perfection, and the only way to restore a relationship with Him was in the death of a sinless (perfect) man (Jesus) who paid the price for us all.
When I think about the number of times I have done the wrong thing, I can understand why I need forgiveness. I'm so imperfect and there is nothing I can possibly do to earn my way into a relationship with God. Only through a belief in Christ, can we obtain forgiveness for our sins and have a relationship with God.
A few biblical guidelines to practising 'following Jesus'
Proverbs 28 verses 9 and 13 says: If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable. It goes on to say: He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
I have heard someone once say that when you start to lie, the more you lie, and the easier it becomes to lie. It can come to such a point that you aren't even thinking about what you are doing, it just becomes an automatic response. This is the sad thing about sin - the more you do it, the easier it can become to sin if you let it. Instead of allowing ourselves to get stuck in a whirlwind of sin, we should set our lives straight with God. We need to put God's law into practice, confess and repent our sins. Continual steering away from God will not get us closer to God, but only farther away.
Proverbs 28 verses 14 says: Blessed is the man who always fears the Lord, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble. How can the hardening of the heart occur? When we refuse to listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, or when we are so caught up in our sins that we don't even hear from him any more. We need to remember that God can see our every move and that we cannot hide from Him. A fear of the Lord is wise.
This is not an easy task I must confess. But I believe with the assistance of our counsellor, the Holy Spirit, we can beat our inclination to do what is evil in the sight of God, with doing what is right. That is what Christ does in our lives. Cleans out the bad stuff, and replaces them with good stuff. Can you imagine what the result would be if we replaced that lie with something that is pleasing to God? Can you imagine having an automatic response to do something right than wrong?
There's a common saying "rules are made to be broken". No. Rules are made for a reason and to be followed. They could be for our own protection, guidance, and correction. We may not always understand why God asks us to do some things, but I am certain that God will honour our 'following Jesus' actions and thoughts.
In Luke 11 verse 27-28, as Jesus is talking to a crowd, a woman shouts out saying, "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you", but Jesus replies, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."
Kandima Awendila was born in Mozambique and lives and works as an IT Service Desk Engineer on the Gold Coast.
Kandima Awendila's archive of articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/kandima-awendila.html