Paying taxes is not fun, but we all have to do it. Now there are those who don’t believe in paying taxes and so they just ignore the tax laws and don’t bother paying them, or find any way they can to get around the laws and think it doesn’t matter. And, they usually end up in jail or else having to pay some major fine plus repay all of the taxes they should have just paid in the first place. The truth is – ignoring the tax laws doesn’t change the fact that they are still laws.
Likewise, MANY people choose to just ignore the truths of God’s Word and the commandments which He has given to us as Christians. A lot of people seem to think they can just pick and choose which of God’s commandments they like and agree with. The ones they don’t like or agree with – they can just ignore them, and they’ll be fine. Sorry – but that’s NOT the case.
The Bible clearly states that we are to keep and obey God’s commandments. Jesus Himself said in John 14:21, “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” And in verse 23 of that chapter, Jesus reaffirms that, “Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.”
Ignoring the parts of God’s Word that we don’t agree with or happen to not like doesn’t change the fact that they are STILL GOD’S COMMANDMENTS, and we will STILL be held accountable for disobeying them. And we can NEVER truly have fellowship with God while we are knowingly and obviously disobeying what He wants us to do or not to do. Even if we don’t like or agree with everything, we should obey Him just because we LOVE HIM and want to please Him!
We should focus on PLEASING GOD and soon we will begin to realize that even the stuff we didn’t like or agree with was for our good to bring us closer to Him. James 4:17 reminds us, “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.”
Ignoring or griping and complaining about God’s Commandments doesn’t change the fact that as a Christian we are still expected to OBEY HIM. And just like it’s much easier to just pay our taxes rather than face the penalties of not paying them, it’s also MUCH easier to obey God than to face the consequences of NOT obeying Him. And believe me, there ARE consequences for ALL of our actions. So, don’t just ignore God’s Word hoping everything will be just fine – it won’t!
In John 13:17 Jesus was with his disciples at the last supper, and He spoke of the example He had given them with His own life and obedience to our Heavenly Father, He said, “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.”
You want to be happy and have peace and joy in this life? OBEY GOD!