Thought for the Day

Because man does not understand God's ways or know His Word, he does many things that are foolish and sinful. When he begins to suffer the natural consequences of his own actions, his tendency is to blame God. As we have seen, the Bible teaches that a man reaps what he sows. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting" (Galatians 6:7). When we break God's commandments, we suffer the consequences of our sins.

Not all people break the laws of God willfully; some people break them ignorantly. God's laws are given to us for our good, so that we might live a good life. If we break them, we are the ones who are hurt. This applies not only to people who do not know God, but to God's own children as well. One of the tactics of the devil is to feed us the lie that God is so angry with us when we sin that He punishes us with evil things. If Satan can get us to believe this, we will blame things on God that are not His fault. Most of our troubles are the result of our own sins or the sins of others. This is the reason Jesus died for us - to save us from our sins. When we receive Him into our hearts, He can repair the damage done by sin, whoever's it is, and enable us to overcome evil with good. Jesus came to redeem us and to help us become overcomers in this life.

"Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the LORD GOD of hosts" (Jeremiah 2:19 and Job 37:23). Also Hosea 7:2 says, "And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now their own doings have beset them about; they are before my face."

God is for us, not against us. Romans 8:31-32 says, "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" Certainly, we can learn things by going through adverse circumstances, but many such circumstances could be avoided, if we took the time to learn God's Word. If we are committed totally to God, we will want to study His Word to know His ways. If we are good students, we can escape many snares of the devil designed to destroy us. We are responsible to learn God's ways. Bibles are available in most countries, especially America. Where they are available, we should be ashamed if we are not reading God's Word and learning His ways. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee" (Hosea 4:6).