There are some things that happen and they stick with you. I remember a moment very clearly that was one of those “stick with you” moments. Actually, it was fairly recently, and I hope it sticks with me forever, for the urgency it created in my soul at that moment.
I was listening to an audio version of a bible commentary on Romans, Chapter 9, written some time ago by a gentleman by the name of Andre Dellerba. And the point he made struck me in the moment as very profound.
God Speaks At Pivotal Points In Our Lives
What he said was that God speaks to us, occasionally, at pivotal moments in the history of our lives, and we are accountable for the decisions we make in those moments of time. Now, I know that the Holy spirit is constantly dealing with us as believers. There are times we hear Him nudging us in one direction or another – times when he convicts us of sin, or prompts us to contact that friend or relative that we just don’t enjoy spending time with, but they need us to do it.
Now, when Dellerba was discussing this issue of God speaking at pivotal times in our lives, he was speaking particularly about unbelievers, and how God will nudge them at particular points in their lives. His point was that God does not strive forever with man; and that as people harden their hearts to the promptings of the Spirit, God does not strive with people forever. God moves in specific moments and circumstances, and God will hold people accountable for how they respond to God in those moments when He speaks.
There Is A Price For Quenching The Spirit
As I was listening to this podcast, it struck me that there are times when God has spoken to me about issues in my life, and I chose to ignore those promptings of His Spirit. And I have to honestly say that in those moments in my life, where I knew that God was prompting me about a need to be obedient, and I chose to quench the Spirit about those issues where He was speaking to me, I’ve since had hard work to do in those areas in my life. I’ve had to turn over the fallow ground that resulted from my ignoring Him and choosing not to obey Him.
There is an even greater problem for the believer in ignoring those promptings of the Spirit that for the unbeliever, because the believer has an even greater witness. The believer has tasted, and has seen that the Lord is good. We walk not merely out of head knowledge or out of fear, but by the reality and the fellowship of the Spirit. The unbeliever, He prompts from the outside; for the believer, He is living inside, choosing to dwell with us, where He can be grieved in His very own home (John 1:14).
Do not forget that God’s purpose in saving us is not merely to get us out of hell. God’s ultimate purpose in saving us is to get the “hell” out of us. If we continue to ignore the promptings of His spirit, we can become ineffective and unproductive in our knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 1:8). And if we do, what a waste we make of the purposes for which Christ died to save us.
The level to which we rise in our walk with Him when no one is watching us is the level to which He will be able to promote us and use us in the world. Strive always to walk in the awareness that the God of the universe walks with you, moment by moment and step by step. Strive to please Him, even when no one is watching.
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