21/11/2011 - WHEN ONE CANNOT SERVE THE LORD

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But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good.

Joshua 24:19-20

Sin is a separation between man and God. There are people who due to their lack of alertness let themselves be carried away by certain sinful situations and as a result they end up falling. Some of them manage to run back and seek God\’s forgiveness; others, however, give themselves completely to the will of the enemy and continue indulging in their sinful practices. My brethren, only those who go back to the Father’s arms, acknowledge their errors and repent obtain His mercy. It is only by confessing our sins that we are forgiven. So, he who does not expose his transgressions to the Lord and does not make amends with the person he wronged remains separate from Him.

Those who stop sinning but do not obtain forgiveness are on par with those who continue to sin: no matter how hard they try they just cannot serve the Lord. Well, those who struggle to be healed, who do their best to prosper and conquer all other blessings by taking possession of what was provided by Jesus through His death on the Calvary cross are the ones who truly serve the Lord God.

The Almighty is holy and zealous. There is no use in trying to hide one’s transgressions because when an individual does that the holy God disconnects from such person. When the Israelites were defeated at Ai, the entire nation suffered. All Achan had to do was to take the cursed things – the silver, the wedge of gold and the Babylonian garment – and to hide those objects under the earth in the midst of his tent for God to depart from that place (Joshua 7:21). Consequently the nation was weakened and a battle that could have been won hands down was actually lost. At that time, the one who committed such trespass had to be taken away from the people of the Lord (v. 24-26). Today, the very thing that must be yanked from our midst is sin, but if the author of sin continues to bring shame to the work of God, the Almighty will remove him with His mighty hand. 

Whoever fails to serve God becomes the servant of a foreign god. The Lord is served with our holiness, but those who yield to adultery, vices, lies, homosexuality or any other practice prohibited by the Bible becomes a servant of the god of immorality. Our Lord, who is holy and jealous, does not remain in the company of those who abandon His commandments and are at odds with the sound doctrine. He will not forgive the transgression of those who worship other gods.

It was God who created us and by serving Him we are protected by His power. However, if we are led astray from Him, He will allow the evil one to reach us and make us suffer. Therefore, those who have sinned must seek the presence of the Most High immediately, confess their transgression and ask Him for forgiveness before it is too late. My brethren, if this is your case, examine yourself and get right with the Lord now!

In Christ with love,

R. R. Soares