Original: August 7, 2007
To resist God is to live a life of futility.
McMinnville OR
20 Your strength will be spent in vain, because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the trees of the land yield their fruit. Leviticus 26:1-20
Shanna and I just returned from Cancun, Mexico after celebrating 15 years of marriage. It was an amazing experience as our “all inclusive” package privileged us to gourmet quality food every meal, and hotel amenities like room service, entertainment, and total access to any of the numerous pools. To me, however, the most amazing part was simply drifting through the aqua blue waves that crashed upon the snow-white sand while basking in 80-degree water.
Wow, it was like heaven on earth! It was interesting to watch people who had no knowledge of the ocean trying to get into the waves. Fighting in vein, the waves crashed into their bodies. The ocean swallowed at least 3 pairs of sunglasses during our stay, one of them belonging to our friend Tracie.
After miserable failure and the constant barrage of waves people were quick to learn the best strategy when in the water. A person could dive under the breaking water so that the force of the wave would roll over them. They could drift or float over the wave so that they offered the least amount of resistance. Or, if you were like one of the new vacationing beachcombers you might receive the punishment of trying to fight the strength of the waves.
Usually this method didn’t last long.
Men have the same choices when it comes to obeying the Lord.
Look at verses 14-15.
God offers three “if” scenarios that each deal with disobedience. They are: 1) “if you do not obey me (14), 2) “if you regret my statutes (15) and, 3) “if your soul abhors my ordinances so as not to carry out all of my commandments (15)”. In other words, God is warning his people that “if” they openly fight against God’s waves he will respond with a crashing blow against the shores of their land. Just as fighting against a breaking wave is futility, resisting God will end with the futility of lives and strength (that) shall be spent uselessly (20).
To resist God is to live a life of futility.
The best scenario for that life is a temporal reward and an eternity of regret. I believe the scripture teaches that most people choose the wide and broad path of Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
The wide road appears the easiest but in the end it leads to destruction. Find out what God is doing, saying and where God’s waves will be the wisest use of your strength, time and energy. To disobey God is to fight a battle you will ultimately lose.
