GOD’S WORD – COMMANDS OR SUGGESTIONS?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
“Noah did everything just as God commanded him.”
(Genesis 6:22)

MEDITATION:
Do you think God gives us commands as suggestions, or as commands
to be obeyed? Why exactly would God give us His commands? Is it
because He wants us to be under His control without any freedom
to make our own choices? That doesn’t sound like a loving heavenly
Father does it?

He has given us freedom to choose for ourselves. Why? Because He loves
us! That means His commands are for our good, doesn’t it? Don’t we do
the same thing for our children? We allow them the opportunity to make
choices, but we give them guidelines so they can enjoy life without hurting
themselves.

When God gives us commands, He is giving us guidelines for enjoying
the good things He has provided. If we wonder about our ability to make
our own choices, then think about this:
    When we read His Word, we see that many times He didn’t
    provide a road map, but a direction. For instance, when He
    directed the shepherds in the field to go to Bethlehem, they
    were given a bright star to follow, but not the route to take.

We might ask ourselves,
    “Why would God give them a destination without a route?”
But, if we think about His rationale, we will realize that He did it
this way so they could put their faith into action. If God gives us
detailed instructions, then how would we learn to live by faith?

Take Noah as an example:.
God was grieved by the actions of men and women, and He
spoke to Noah about how wicked the human race had become.
    God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for
    all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.
    So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to
    all people, for the earth is filled with violence because
    of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and
    the earth.
    (Genesis 6:12-13)

Then He gave Noah a command to build an ark to save his family
and the animals. That sounds like a simple and straightforward
command until we put ourselves in Noah’s place. Noah had never
seen a long lasting rain (40 days), and he had never seen a flood.
He had no weather channel to tell him to be prepared for a big
storm. All Noah had was the command from God.

He could have rationalized and decided that this was just a ‘suggestion’
from God. However, Noah knew this was a ‘command’ from God and he
chose to believe God. Regardless of what others might have said to Noah,
he obeyed God. When the flood came, Noah and his family were saved
and the rest of humanity was destroyed. They were saved because Noah
put his faith and trust in God, instead of being influenced by man.

When we assess the world today through the eyes of God, we can
see that the type of corruption ‘in the days of Noah’ have re-emerged.
Look at just two examples of how the human race has been corrupted:
    1. Man has decided that God made a mistake when forming
         some children in the womb, so man created laws that allow
         us to ‘correct’ God’s mistakes through abortion.
    2. Man has decided that God had it all wrong when defining
         marriage as a union between a man and a woman, so man
         made laws to ‘correct’ God’s mistakes and allow marriage
         to be redefined ‘as man saw fit’.

As in the days of Noah, we are also headed
toward a great catastrophe. God said to Noah,
    “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever…”
    (Genesis 6:3a)
How long will God contend with man ‘correcting’ His mistakes today?
All those who refuse to enter the ‘ark of salvation’ provided by Jesus
Christ, will suffer the same fate as those who did not enter the ark
built by Noah.

ACTION:
Which side of the ‘ark of salvation’ have you chosen? If you are still
on the outside, then pray and ask the Lord to guide you in making
the necessary changes in your life, so you can be on the inside of the
ark. If you are on the inside of the ark, then learn to trust the Lord
in all things. Believe what He says and accept them as commands
and not as suggestions. Remember, His commands are for our good,
because He loves us.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for your commands which are for
my good. Forgive me if I have reduced Your commands to be only
suggestions that may, or may not benefit me. Thank You, Father
for opening my eyes to understand that Your commands are not
restricting me from making choices, but they are giving me an
opportunity to prove to myself that my faith is genuine, and a
chance to grow my faith through obedience. Thank You for giving
me a ‘star’ to focus on for direction, and allowing me the freedom
to choose a route for following that ‘star’. I pray that whenever I
choose routes that are no longer headed in the direction You have
given me, that You will provide the corrections I need in order to
stay within Your guidelines. Thank You for all of Your provisions
which prove Your love for me, and all mankind! Strengthen my
faith, and give me the courage and determination to follow Your
commands, instead of allowing mankind to influence my choices.
I love You, Father, and I am thankful for Your love for me!”

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