You have wearied the Lord with your words. "How have we wearied Him?" you ask. By saying, "All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and He is pleased with them" or "Where is the God of Justice?"...."You have said harsh things against me," says the Lord. Yet you ask, "What have we said against You?" You have said, "It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by carrying out His requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those who challenge God escape." Malachi 2.17; 3.13-15.
Why do people reject Christ? After all that He has done for them, why do they decide against becoming Christians? Or if they have become Christians, why do they get discouraged and become ineffective? Malachi gave us three answers.
First, we confuse "good" with "God". From the time we are born we are all taught the same half-truth: that God is love. If God loves everybody, like the Good Book says, then everybody must be good. There is no evil person, so there is no need for punishment. A loving God, these people believe, would never send anyone to Hell.
The reason this is a half-truth is that people don't hear the second part of the message: Yes, God is good; but we are separated from Him by sin. We are born with a sinful nature. Ever since the first man disobeyed God, every subsequent generation has found new ways to disobey Him. There is a great chasm between us and God, and we have no ability within ourselves to reach Him. Thankfully, He has made the first move: He sent His Son to be a sacrifice for us, to bridge that gap between Him and us, so that we could come to Him and enjoy fellowship with Him.
The second reason one might reject Christ is bitterness. Some people have been so hurt that they cannot see good. They have become so jaded that they feel like everyone is going to hell. These people look for Justice above all, and failing to find it, they go about denouncing Injustice. Failing to find Justice in this world, they come to the conclusion that there is no God. If there was a Just God, they believe, he would wipe injustice off the face of the earth. They see man's separation from God as proof that God does not exist.
These people have grasped a second half-truth. God gave us Free Will. He did not create us to be robots. He allows us to follow our desires. And, being human, our desires are usually selfish and self-serving. And if by looking out for me I occasionally step on you, well, too bad for you, because it is all about me. No wonder we sometimes become jaded. But we have to remember that without Free Will, then the choice to follow God would not be ours, it would be His. The World clamors for choice about abortion rights, for the right to choose their leaders in open and fair elections, and even for the choice of what to say and how to say it. Why, then, would we believe that God should somehow take away the most important choice of all: whom we will worship and whom will we love? Yes, He loves us dearly, and paid a hefty price for us; but He still gives us the choice to love Him back.
Quickly, the third reason we question God and fall away from Him (and this is mainly for Believers) is that we don't think following God with all of our hearts, minds, and strength is worth it. We lose the joy of our salvation, and start thinking that the Christian life is spending all your time like you are at a funeral. We look at non-Believers and see that they look happy; some might even have more money or things than we have. We start to compare, and then we pout: why does he have all the blessing? He doesn't even go to church! What is the point of going through the motions when I could be having fun hanging out with all my heathen friends?
Psalm 1 describes a three-stage plan for falling away: "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night." Here is a Christian, doing his best work, keeping moving; but he also takes some advice from wicked people. Pretty soon he stops doing the work of the Lord and just stands with sinners. He may be arguing with them, or he may be stopping for a closer look, like he might want to join them. Finally, our hero is neither walking or standing in the faith; he is sitting among the sinful people, mocking others for doing the work of the Lord. That was the same work he himself was doing not too long ago. The way to keep from falling in that trap is to keep reading the word, day and night; keep thinking about it, and living it. God will give you joy if you truly work for Him, and don't just go through the motions.
People who go through the motions for God don't win many people to Christ. In fact, they are one reason lost people become jaded, or they hold to religious half-truths that will, in the end, not get them to heaven.
So why not invite Him into your life today? Do you really think you can make it without Him? My daughter goes to Dallas Baptist University, and this week she blogged about something she heard one of her professors say: Thousands have tried to swim the English Channel, but only about 50 have succeeded. If you register with the English government (as is required by English law), then the government will assign a boat to follow you as you attempt to swim the Channel. That way, if you get tired and decide to quit, the boat can rescue you. Now, imagine that everyone on earth is required to swim from San Diego to Honolulu, a distance of some 2200 miles. There is no possible way that any human being can swim that far; some can swim farther than others, but even triathlete swimmers would soon give up. Now, imagine that a Higher Power has provided a boat to follow those people, much like the English government provides a boat for swimmers in the Channel. This Higher Power invites everyone to climb in the boat and be saved from drowning in the Pacific. But some people might say, "No, thanks. I can do this myself. They wouldn't have told us to do it if it couldn't be done." Others might say, "No, really. I prefer the water; I hate boats." Still others might say, "No, no, no! You are not real; you are just a mirage of a boat, and if I get in I will succumb to myths and superstitions about boats. The water is real; I want to stay in the water."
The point is this: only those who get in the boat will be saved. Those who try to swim to Honolulu by themselves will perish. In the same way, only those who come to God through His Son Jesus Christ will make it to heaven. The rest will spend eternity in a lake of fire called Hell, not because God sent them there as some kind of punishment, but because those people did not want anything to do with God in this life. Please, don't be lost. Don't try it on your own. Don't vex God, who has provided a way to be saved from an eternity in hell.
It is as easy as ABC. First, ASK Him into your heart. It is that simple. The Bible says, "All who call on the Name of the Lord will be saved." Second, BELIEVE that He can save you. God doesn't want lip service--he wants your heart. The Bible says, "But to as many as believe Him, to them He gave power to become the sons of God." Third, CONFESS; tell someone, or convey to them that you have done it. There is something good about saying it out loud--if I determine in my own mind that I will lose 20 pounds, I will fail; but if I tell someone, or write it down and share it with someone, then there is a witness to my commitment, and it kind of finalizes the process, like a Last Will and Testament, or a Contract. The Bible says, "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
Salvation is a gift; don't leave it unopened. Unclaimed, it reverts back to the Giver of Life and Light; the recipient who refuses delivery is left with death and darkness forever.
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