My dear readers,

Your Choice -- Destruction or Reward?

Proverbs 13:13: “Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.”

Making choices in life is what everyone does every day the moment they wake up. Insignificant choices have little or no impact on life. However, significant choices can change the direction of life forever. The choice of schools our children attend is life-changing. The choice of workplace can determine our standard of living and job security. One bad choice can ruin a life. Making friends with the wrong kind of people can land a person in prison or result in death because of an overdose. Many have ruined lives because they decided to tag along with their friends and visit a casino for the first time. Bankrupt, with broken families and divorce, they rue the day they accompanied their gambling friends to the casino.

Regrets follow in hot pursuit after an abysmal choice, but nothing can be done to reverse it other than to accept the consequences of changing lives for the worse. It is like a nightmare that continues for years with the hope that after enough time has passed, it may fade away, and the light of a new morning will shine through the dark clouds of pain and deep regret. But blessings continue for a lifetime when the right choices are made. Lives are blessed all around. The children of God become a walking blessing to everyone in their lives. God’s desire has always been for all His beloved children to be a blessing by becoming more and more like His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, in heart, mind, speech and life. To accomplish God’s desire, God’s children must heed the warning in Proverbs 13:13.

(1) Do Not Despise God’s Word – To despise God’s Word is to show contempt for His Word. To show contempt for God’s Word is the same as showing contempt for God. How does a person show contempt for God’s Word? The following are some ways:

• Blatant rejection – The person shows no regard when he hears God’s Word. He is like someone who hears the gospel of Jesus Christ who suffered and died for his sin and rose from the dead for his justification, but he hardens his heart. His ears are stuffed with the cotton balls of carnality, and the god of this world blinds his mind.

• Hypocritical denial – The hearer seems to have accepted God’s Word by his verbal agreement. However, his conduct does not reflect a life of obedience. He lies and cheats. He intimidates others to have his way. He uses verbal abuse to silence his “critics” who are regarded as his enemies because he is not teachable. He loves mammon rather than God. While living in such a state of sin, he continues to attend church and declares his mental agreement to God’s Word.

• Make merchandise – Making money from the things of the world is the way of life, but making money in the name of Christ is arguably the worst sin anyone can commit. Christ calls them hirelings. They serve for filthy lucre. These are the health and wealth gospel preachers found in many end-time churches today. Others are found in fundamental churches that are no better. God promised that He will judge them for their despicable greed. 2 Peter 2:1-3: “¹But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. ²And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. ³And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.”
• Erroneous teaching – One of the deadliest ways to despise God’s Word is to use God’s Word to “Christianise” a man-centred teaching. Using citations rather than explanations is one way that has led many astray. The gullible will receive the teaching as from God because they are too lazy to check whether the Bible references cited actually teach it. These gullible ones seem to trust their pastors. These false pastors despise God’s Word because they accept their teaching as God's Word.

• Cultic tendencies – Paul warned in Acts 20:30: “Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” Using the Word of God to draw men unto themselves is one of the worst ways to abuse the Word of God. This is a cultic behaviour common in today’s churches where preachers like to use phrases like “I tell you.”

Despising God’s Word comes in the form of wrong or right teaching but with man-centred ulterior motives. God will undoubtedly destroy these people for despising His Word. Rejecting God and His holy Word, tampering with God’s Word, and making merchandise of their victims in the name of Christ are all serious transgressions. The Lord will destroy these transgressors.

All must take heed of this warning.

(2) Fear God’s Commandment – The blessed alternative is to fear God’s Word. To fear God’s Word is to fear God. The commandments of God are non-negotiable. We must obey them all the time. For example, the Ten Commandments reveal how great a sinner man is before God’s holy eyes. The sins of worshipping multiple gods, idolatry, not keeping the Lord’s Day holy, dishonouring parents, adultery, bearing false witness, hating a brother without a just cause, stealing and covetousness are all deadly sins against not only man but God as well.

God’s children will evidence their salvation through obeying God’s Commandments and all of God’s Word. They fear God’s Word and will not deliberately disobey God’s Word. They know that if they do, they are sinning against God since the Bible is God's Word. They will never do that wilfully. The moment they realise they have sinned, they will repent with all their heart before God and plead for the cleansing blood of Christ to wash them of their sins. They know that to regard iniquity in their heart is to mock their Christ who died on the cross for their sins. They will not dare to do that, nor do they wish to. They love Christ with all their heart, soul, strength and mind through obeying God's Word.

The reward includes:

• the assurance of salvation;
• the peace of God in their heart;
• the joy of living for Christ;
• the blessing that their holy witness can bring to others for God’s glory;
• praise and prayers to God with clean hands and pure hearts.

The choice we make reveals the kind of relationship we have with God in Christ. Let us choose wisely for our souls’ sake. Our choice determines our eternal destiny! May God help us to choose to fear and obey His Word.