November 5 Thought for Today – “God Gets An A!” “You will not obey the Lord your God any better now than you have in the past. So you can be sure that you will die from war, famine, and disease in Egypt, where you insist on going!” Jeremiah 42:21-22 You may recall hearing of a student who played the weekend away, and was not prepared for a “pop quiz” on Monday. After pondering the questions for a long time the student wrote on the paper: “God only knows the answers to this quiz!” When the graded paper came back, the professor had written this: “God gets an A; you get an F!” After the main body of Jews had been taken into Babylonian captivity, things “fell apart” for those left in Jerusalem and surrounding countryside. First, the Babylonian government had appointed a respected Jew, Gedaliah, to be governor over those left behind, Then Gedaliah was murdered by an assassin sent by the king of Ammon. Frightened and unsure, the Jews asked Jeremiah to “Beg the Lord your God to show us what to do and where to go” (Jeremiah 42:3). In response to their plea, Jeremiah went to the Lord and received His answer ten days later. God’s answer was for the people to remain in the land of Judah. “Do not fear the king of Babylon anymore, for I am with you and will save you and rescue you from his power. I will be merciful to you by making him kind, so he will let you stay here in your land” (Jeremiah 42:11-12). But God’s message through Jeremiah continued: “Listen, you remnant of Judah. The Lord has told you, ‘Do not go to Egypt!’ Don’t forget this warning I am giving you today. For you were deceitful when you sent me to pray to the Lord, saying, ‘Just tell us what the Lord our God says, and we will do it!’ And today I have told you exactly what He said, but you will not obey the Lord your God any better now than you have in the past. So you can be sure that you will die from war, famine, and disease in Egypt, where you insist on going” (Jeremiah 42:19-22). So what did the people do? They said Jeremiah had lied, refused to obey God’s command to stay in Judah, packed up their belongings and went to Egypt (Jeremiah 43:1-7). Their fate was what God had said it was and once again, “God got an ‘A,’ the people got an ‘F!’ There are at least two great lessons here for our consideration. First, regardless of the circumstance and wherever we are, God can give us His over-riding protection if we obey him. But we cannot expect His watch-care when we go directly against His will. Second, He sees beyond our circumstances and expects us to “stay the course” (see Psalm 37:34). God told those taken captive to Babylon to build houses, have children, and work for the community where they lived. Even though they were in Babylon against their will, He said that didn’t matter; He would take care of them. God told those left behind in Judah to stay put, raise crops and live as normally as possible; He was in control. When it comes to God’s word and His commandments, never doubt them for a minute. What He says always will come true. When He speaks directly to people and gives a commandment, as He did to the Judean refugees, I can think of nothing more foolish or foolhardy that to go directly against His word. When Jesus says “No one can come to the Father but by me” (John 14:6), any other schematic put together by man is pointless. Its failure is certain. As Dr. J. Vernon McGee put it so eloquently “If the Bible says ‘do it,’ and you aren’t, you’re out of God’s will. If it says ‘don’t do it’ and you are, you’re out of His will.” We may not like or agree with God’s plan, but that makes no difference. In the end, God always will “get an A.” And if we attempt to proceed against His will, an “F” for failure is certain! “Follow God’s rules for doing His work, just as an athlete either follows the rules or is disqualified and wins no prize.” 2 Timothy 2:5 Selah! copsonthestreet
Posted on: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 14:00:22 +0000
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