Reflections

This semester I am taking a precepts class by Kay Author. It is an intensive study of some of the old testament. We have studied 2 Kings, Obadiah, and Joel. I have attempted to study parts of the old testament before and would end up feeling ignorant and discouraged. This experience began the same way, but is ending up completely different. God has opened my eyes to see his word and the old testament in a new way.

1 Peter 4:17 says "For it is time for judgement to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?" All through the old testament we see examples of God's people turning from the Lord. God, being the merciful God that he is, gives his people chance after chance to repent. When his people continue to ignore God he eventually pours out judgement or curses on them. Are we so different today? Are we spared judgement? No, 1 Peter 4:7 makes that clear. It is a matter of time. If we continue in disobedience towards God we will experience his judgement. I have wondered many times before taking this study how the old testament relates to me today. I have found it to be completely relevant. I am learning to have a new respect and fear of the Lord. As for myself, I have been thinking of God's blessings in my life and about his judgement. The Lord, ever so clearly, reminded me today that he is a holy God and his word says in 1 Thessalonians 4:7 "For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life." In my own life there are things that grieve the heart of the Lord that are just everyday events for me. Sometimes it is the things I may laugh at, the tv shows I watch(which I so fondly dubbed "guilty pleasures"), my shopping addiction, or my lack of patience with my 2 year old. You get my drift. It is so easy to look at the world around us and to think I'm doing okay. Revelation 3: 15-16 says" I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth." The Lord desires more than us being "okay" or the status quo. He desires us to be holy. To live lives that that honor Christ and point people to him.