"But My people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to Me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices."
Stubborn: unreasonably obstinate; having an unreasonable attitude
When I see the word "stubborn", I immediately think of my children when they were toddlers. They had no concept of what was good or bad for them, they only knew what they wanted and when they wanted it. Boy, could they pitch some hissy-fits!! They were champions at temper tantrums until they had had enough spankings and sit-downs and learned what was acceptable behavior and what was not. Sometimes I even let them go so that they would see that what they wanted wasn't all that great. They have since grown into wonderful adults with good principles and ethics. And now they teach their own children.
In our natural lives, we are living parables. How we've all acted as toddlers and children is exactly how we act or have acted in the spirit every time we sin. A perfect picture of our attitude with God. And we can pitch some incredible spiritual hissy-fits!!! Temper tantrums abound when we decide that sin is better then obedience.! And the consequences we reap prove out our attitudes.
When we are stubborn enough, hard-headed enough, obstinate enough, the Lord will allow us to go off on our tangent, just to let us find out for ourselves that the grass is NOT any greener on the other side of the fence. In fact, it's usually all jaggers and pricker-bushes, sticks and stones and stagnant water. Totally unhealthy and draining of life. Only then do we realize how very good we had it. God will allow us continue in our stubbornness just to bring us to our senses. He does not stop us from rebelling because He wants us to learn the consequeces of sin.
Every sin we commit is a spiritual temper tantrum and our loving Father cannot abide bratty children. He will continue to chastise us until we either conform to His will or walk away from Him. We have a choice. To love and obey God, or not.
Are you guilty of spiritual temper tantrums?
"Abba-Daddy, forgive me. I can be such a brat at times, selfish and unyielding. I am so sorry. Take my heart of stone, Abba, and give me a heart of flesh, malleable in Your hand. Give me a willing spirit, obedient, loving and trusting. Daddy, I want a heart like Jesus. Amen."
SUPPORTING SCRIPTURES:
Nehemiah 9:27
Job 8:4
5:17
Psalm 94:12
Proverbs 15:32
Acts 7:42
Romans 1:26
6:27
Galatians 6:8
Hebrews 12:5
Revelation 3:19
No comments:
Post a Comment