Title: Why are you doing this to yourself?
By: J.O. Lawal
Date: April 30, 2023
Series: From Pastor’s Desk
Number: Vol. 11, No. 52
Beloved: grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus our Lord and Saviour. I gladly welcome you to the last Sunday of the month of April 2023. My prayer is that God will clear the way for everything He wants you to have this month that you are yet to receive to come you before the month ends, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
As we come into this new week, I want to remind you of what Paul tells us about the possibility of always learning the word of God and yet not coming to know anything about Him or His truth (2Tim 3:7). And why will someone be attending church meetings and hearing the word of God and yet be ignorant of God and of the basic truths of life? One of the things that are often responsible for that is a lack of concentration.
When the word of God is coming to you and your mind is not following what you are being taught but is busy with something else or you are sleeping, there is no way you will be able to make anything out of what you are learning. Unfortunately, not paying attention to the word of God coming to them or sleeping when the word of God is coming to them has become a culture for many so-called Christians. That means it is what they do all the time. It is no wonder, then, that there has been no noticeable transformation in their lives ever since they have become Christians and have been attending church meetings.
Another reason people often learn the word of God and yet don’t get to know the truth of God through it is a lack of understanding of what they are learning. Our Lord Jesus clearly tells us that when someone hears the word of God and does not understand it, Satan will come to him and snatch what he has heard away from him. Therefore, there is no way what he has heard can translate to anything good in his life — it can only go to waste. (Cf. Matt 13:19)
Now it is understandable if one who is not a child of God hears the word of God and does not understand it. That is because he does not have the Spirit of God who gives men understanding of spiritual truths in him (1Cor 2:12). But when a child of God, one who has His Spirit in him, keeps hearing His word and yet does not understand what he is hearing, something is either wrong with him or with his teacher. And what is wrong with him may be that he is not making any effort to understand what he is learning. So, he will not bother to think or meditate on what he has heard. And he will not bother to search the Scriptures to see whether what he has heard is the truth or not. Why? He is lazy. So, like the Hebrew brethren, he is uninterested in gaining the knowledge of the truth. And that kind of person will never mature in spiritual things. (Cf. Heb 5:11-14)
Then we have those who hear the word of God and understand it but who have no intention of acting on it. And why will someone hear the word of God, understand it and yet make no decision to act on it? It is largely because he does not believe what he has heard is for him. He may see it as something for someone else to act on, but not him. And this is why, week after week, people hear the word of God and other instructions in their church meetings and still go out and act as though they did not hear a thing or do exactly the opposite of what they have heard.
The question now is, “Why are you doing this to yourself?” Why are you wasting your time learning the word of God, when you have no intention of acting on it or when you are not interested in seeing it work in your life? See, the word of God will not be of any value to you, if you will not embrace it and act on what it says. No, His word will not open your eyes to the truths you need to know to be free in life, if you will not adopt the right attitude in receiving and handling it. So, if you are among those that have been learning the word of God for years and yet are not sound in the things of God, you need to reconsider what you are doing to yourself and change your ways. Otherwise, you will never stop being a victim of the lies of the devil and the errors of lawless men.
Have a great week.
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