I Kings 21:20
‘Then Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, enemy of mine?” And he answered, “I have found you, because you have given yourself over to do evil in the sight of the LORD.’
What’s interesting is that Ahab didn’t do any of the conspiracy or the fulfilling of the evil. But he knew of it and he allowed it to proceed. But God blames him. He was king, he heard of the evil plans, but did nothing to stop it.
This brings many things to mind. The first is I Corinthians 15:33, ‘Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”’ Ahab married an evil woman. She derived the entire plot. Ahab aligned himself with bad company. We may contribute very little that’s evil, but our company sweeps us away in evil. I can see this in my youth. I went along with much that was evil. Much of the plans never occurred to me. But my friends did, and I didn’t say no.
God had mercy on me, and I didn’t get wrapped up in the consequences. He gives all of us mercy. However, if we continue to work against it, that mercy disappears. God gives second and third chances, but there is an end to them.
The book of Jude is a tiny one with only one chapter. I have gone years without going there. But it contains a powerful passage. Verse 21 says, “keep yourselves in the love of God as you await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you eternal life.” The love of God has margin. We aren’t perfect and will sin. We usually don’t sin. There is room. But, if we ignore His Word and His warnings, we will be outside of His love.
Psalm 91:1 is similar, “keep yourselves in the love of God as you await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you eternal life.” God’s way is a path. There is a center and outer lanes. I see the outer lanes with tree branches from the outside that reach in. When we are close to the perimeters we can get hit with those branches. We get wounds and scars by them. We aren’t out of His will, but close to it. It’s best to remain in the center of His will.
God gives us nudges. Sometimes they are God, sometimes they are our thoughts. Hebrews 5:14 says, “But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” I love this verse. God interacts with us.
Our walk with God is by faith. That doesn’t mean it’s all believing and no seeing, or better said, felt. Romans 8:16 says, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God”. God’s Spirit communes with our spirits. The two worlds connect. We sense and feel Him. He communicates with us. We’ve been adopted by Him and He is forever connected to us.
At creation Adam and Eve were connected to God. Sin wrecked it and there has been a separation ever since. He spent the Old Testament repairing it. Then Jesus came and paid the great price for our redemption. He holds out His hand to all. Those that accept His redemption offer are in for the ride of their lives. We have a new Father. He loves and comforts us. He guides us.
We must accept His offer. Ahab went along with the evil plan and didn’t interfere. We need to act. We aren’t redeeming ourselves, but just accepting His offer.
Lord, thank You for all You’ve done. So much mercy and so much sacrifice. Our job isn’t to float along an evil current. We are to accept His. Thank You, Lord.