Good morning,
Though the Lord is great, he cares for the humble, but he keeps his distance from the proud. (Ps. 138:6)
One
of the wonderful benefits of the Bible is the predictability of the
course of our lives based on God’s dealing with people who have lived
before us. God’s love letter to us lays out all the ways that he will
bless us if we trust what he says and live by the truths he has given
us. Hundreds of generations of people have lived before we came on the
scene, and each generation has had to make the same basic choice. Will
we trust the God of creation or not. Only Adam and Eve were given the
choice of sinning or not sinning. Since they sinned, everyone except
Jesus has had to deal with a sin nature and all the nasty side effects
of living our way or God’s way. It really is true that he wants to
bless us if we live by faith in him, but what does history tell us about
what happens to those who refuse God’s salvation and his Savior.
The
Bible is very clear that proud people in every generation who make the
choice of living life their own way will have the same outcome to their
choices as every other generation before or after them. Over two
thousand five hundred years ago in the prophet Isaiah’s day, their
generation of proud and rebellious people were warned about what to
expect from God because of the way they were living. The courts in
their generation were so poisoned by sin that righteous people were
treated like enemies. In their day, truth and honesty were often
against the law and if you were foolish enough to follow God’s way, you
would be attacked for not following their version of “genuine” truth.
In their generation, truth was the enemy and lies were their basis for
their laws and rules for living. God made these people a promise. He
promised to repay these enemies of his loving holiness for their evil
deeds. He told them that they would have to face his fury for living
the way they did. In fact, he promised to pay them back no matter who
they were or where and when they lived. They would have to give an
account to their angry Heavenly Judge who would make them pay in full
for their decisions. The good news for God’s kids is that we don’t have
to worry about being ripped off for eternity. God will take care of
these people. We are told to love them and pray that they will join us
by faith. If they won’t, we can leave the rest of the matter in God’s
hands.
Isaiah 59:14 Our courts oppose the righteous, and justice is nowhere to be found. Truth stumbles in the streets,
and honesty has been outlawed. 15 Yes, truth is gone, and anyone who renounces evil is attacked.
18
He (the Lord) will repay his enemies for their evil deeds. His fury
will fall on his foes. He will pay them back even to the ends of the
earth.
Roy Wisner
