Throughout the Bible people are told to do this or that as if there were a set of laws to follow and obey as if God wielded a whip or as if God would punish unbelievers by sending them to Hell. Misunderstanding the will of God sends more people to Hell than that destination being God’s will for them.
If you have only recently prayed to receive God’s gift of salvation, then you’ve experienced the lifting of your soul as burdens were given to Christ and you submitted to his Holy authority. But it is that word, authority, which becomes a stumbling block to those who don’t know the joy of salvation through Christ.
Fear of the Lord in its true sense is not established in the minds of mankind until he or she has heard the gospel and acknowledged his sovereign existence, his sovereign power over all mankind, indeed, over all that we know exists. Once that concept of God as Creator and Savior is given to the reader or listener, the die (the eternal destination) is cast. The gift of salvation is either accepted or denied. Unrepentant denial offers only one eternal destination: Hell and all the suffering that goes with it.
The Bible says, “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you henceforth walk not as other unbelievers walk, in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.” Ephesians 4:17-19 (In this quotation from the Bible, I’ve exchanged the words Gentiles for unbelievers and ye for you.)
Those verses, too, sound like “Do this and don’t do that,” don’t they. But understand that salvation relieves frustration of all kinds. It is a free gift received with joy, joy that is not understood by souls which have not repented of their sins. Philippians 4:7.
One way to think of receiving joy through Christ is to consider requited love from your first true sweetheart. You may remember that you would do anything for him/her? Sweet memories, yes? You submitted your will for his/hers, right? That’s the way it is with knowing Christ. You willingly put aside whatever pleasures or obligations you may have in order to please your sweetheart, or in this case, in order to please God. You do this because you love Jesus, not because he is threatening you. Again: Philippians 4:7!
Going back to Ephesians 4:17, the opening clause should be read in joy, as a matter of pleasing God in his removal of your sins in his loving kindness, having removed the emptiness (vanity) of your earthly mind, which was darkened your thinking with misunderstanding and separating you from God (Heaven) because of you spiritual ignorance in choosing blindness (lack of Biblical knowledge) thereby being without sorrow for having sinned and deliberately choosing to ignore God’s will by choosing to live in greed and immorality.
If you’ve read this far, know that God is working in your heart. You may be like I was before I knew Christ. God gave me many chances to come to know him; but that may not be true for you.
I was raised by a Presbyterian mother and father, who I believe knew and worshipped the God of the Bible. My two brothers, however, did not know or worship God. Despite Mom and Dad attending church, immersing themselves in church activities and fellowshipping with the pastor and other members, my two brothers lived spiritually apart by willfully disobeying their parents and the admonitions of submitting to God’s will. Their attitudes rubbed off on me and I was not saved until age 34 or 35. I don’t remember the exact date, but I do remember the exact place as I knelt and asked Jesus to be my savior.
I had many chances to submit to God’s will as a teenager and into my 20’s and 30’s. God was calling me and I was ignoring him until he tricked me into wanting to know why Israel as a nation was so influential in world history even until today. My life unfolded according to the path I had chosen; yet, as I look back over my life, I can see his provision each step of the way. I was the lost sheep he was seeking and when I found him finding me, life became bearable and peaceful within my soul. Perhaps the thief on the cross next to Jesus felt the same way just before entering Heaven.
Having fellowship in a Bible-believing church has caused me to examine my life considering what might have been had I not had Satan’s influence on my teenage life. I see the joy that pastors, missionaries, and others who have dedicated their life to serving God have. True, they often tell of hardships of all kinds; but their joy in living for Christ is obvious. I wish I had been like them.
If you, dear reader, are still young, or thinking about a career change, think hard about what directions you must consider in your daily activities as well as your goals. Working in God’s service should be your priority. But you cannot know God’s will for you if you won’t even take the time to know him and what he has written in his Holy Word, the Bible and pray to God like seers, prophets and apostles prayed to him. God is not a puppet jumping and dancing to give you every little whim and desire you may have. He is your Creator and he made you to please him. Respect him with your time, worship and dedication and he will respect you with blessings you’ve never thought of.
