2 Chronicles 14:14
“They destroyed all the cities around Gerar, for the dread of the LORD had fallen on them; and they pillaged all the cities, for there was much plunder in them.”
The summer olympics in Paris began this week. Their opening ceremony was quite disrespectful of the Lord. People all over the world spoke against it. An athlete in the US said, “God is not mocked”. The next day a portion of the city had a black out. The only building in that region had power. It was a church on a hill. Here in total darkness was God’s light. A nice sign that God sees. Dread fell upon the organizers. Many on TV commented that this was God taking notice.
I can recall hearing the description as a young person, “Those are God fearing people”. That mystified me. I’ve since learned that it means that one believes God and does what He says. One that doesn’t fear God ignores Him.
God gives blessings to those that fear Him. The bible gives plenty of descriptions to those that don’t fear Him. The first consequence is death. Not physical death, but a spiritual one. He gave that to Adam and Eve. In the day you eat of that fruit you shall surely die. They died spiritually.
What was spiritual death? The worst of it was being separated from God. Sin separates us. Unfortunately it’s for all eternity. Jesus came and died in our place to give a way out. The second consequence of spiritual death was a flawed self. The bible speaks of the fleshly nature and it’s sinful. Even though one accepts Christ and is redeemed the fleshly nature seeks to do evil. We are to grow in Christ and learn to control it.
If one ignores God then they are in their sins. If they die in that state unfortunately they will go into eternity without God. This should cause dread. I can recall being a young person unsure of my eternal destiny. When I learned that Jesus wanted to fix that I was all in. I’ve come to learn that heaven is the first gift. There are far blessings to come: walking with God for the remainder of our days, His loving perfect guidance, His peace in our hearts, the incredible provision He gives and so on.
When one doesn’t accept Christ he’s afraid of what he will give up. I heard yesterday that those worship their choice. They want to be able to be in charge. I understand. What they don’t know is that God is far wiser and has much more for them that they will miss out on.
If one rejects Christ God still reaches out to them. He doesn’t quit. However, His voice is less. To the point that those who ignore Him can no longer hear Him. That’s why the optimal time to accept Christ is when young. The chances of an older person to do so is rare. Interestingly enough most put off Christ telling themselves they will do so when old. That’s rare. They have hardened their hearts against God. He will honor that even though it makes Him sad.
Some don’t have that dread, but should. David speaks of the arrogant in Psalm 73. Verses 3-5 says, “For I was envious of the arrogant As I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no pains in their death, And their belly is fat. They are not in trouble like other people”. Then God puts this in perspective in verses 17,18, “Until I entered the sanctuary of God; Then I perceived their end. You indeed put them on slippery ground; You dropped them into ruin.” They should have felt dread, but they’ve long since hardened their hearts and have ignored God.
2 Corinthians 7:10 contrasts godly sorrow and worldly sorrow. “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” God seeks to draw us to Himself. Shame drives away. If something is of God we are drawn to Him. His leadings don’t last forever. Respond today. Hebrews 3:7,8 says, ‘Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness”‘. Respond when we hear Him.
Thank You Lord for Your warnings. Help us to head you. Not to harden our hearts.