Do Not Refuse God
In Hebrews 12:25, we read: "See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less shall we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven".
The prophets constantly warned the Israelites about turning away from God and implored them to return to God and worship Him as He had directed them to do. Now that we have the Bible, we have God warning us from the heavenly (spiritual) realm. God speaks to us through His word, and it is our duty and responsibility to hear, understand, and obey.
So how do we refuse God? By failing to worship Him properly in spirit and truth. We refuse God when we do not follow what God told us to do, but exchange His word with what we want to do. We refuse God when we flat out break His commandments. We refuse God as we fail to keep the commandments given to us. We refuse God when we do not do those things that are good. We refuse God when we mistreat our brethren. We refuse God when we mistreat anyone. We refuse God when we abuse and misuse the scriptures to get an understanding that we want. We refuse God whenever we put something as more important in our life other than God. We refuse God when we are greedy, selfish, and full of pride.
Hopefully we get the point. The Hebrew writer later wrote in 12:28-29 "Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire". We refuse God when we do not show gratitude for what He has done for us. We refuse God when we do not provide an acceptable service to Him. What does that mean? It means doing everything for God just as He commands us in the scripture. Not only in our worship service that we participate in a few times a week, but in our daily lives. Remember Romans 12:1? "I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship". This means our entire life is supposed to be dedicated to God.
Remember also that our service and daily living is to be done in reverence before God. As we recognize God as creator and LORD, we behave ourselves in our everyday actions, conduct, and speech. God's name is Reverend (Psalm 111:9), and we should reverence His name and everything that name stands for.
We are also supposed to be in awe in our service. Awe is a word that means inspirational. We express awe and wonder at a beautiful sight or event. Our emotions get the better of us and we gush forth in happiness and joyful tears. Perhaps we even get goose bumps, but we are more than impressed by what we experience. We also express awe as we contemplate the vastness of this universe, or the greatness of God. More than that, when we consider that our God made provision for us to bring us into a clean relationship with Him, through Jesus Christ. Man was lost, but by believing in the Son and doing what is commanded of us, we can be in a spiritual relationship. Our obedience to the gospel teaching is necessary for salvation. God's grace may be great, but it will not do more than it is supposed to do. So do your part, and do not refuse God.
By Carey Scott

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