Punishment for those who deserve it
The other day I was helping a friend of mine who is staying away from here. He probably doesn’t even know how much I do for him. I spent almost an entire day in my already busy week doing things for him. Although it was physical work, I enjoyed it.
It was good to do a bit of manual labor for a change. I enjoyed doing something different. I enjoyed driving into town, stopping at a big box store to see what they had in stock.
As she made room in the garage to store her things, Renata commented from her office that my friends were using me. I argued with that, saying that they would never abuse me.
But that got me thinking. I wonder how you would feel if his friends abused you. I know my friends wouldn’t, but what if? It wouldn’t be good if you did something nice for your friends out of love and they were just abusing you.
Would you still do things for them? Maybe she would get to a point where she would draw a line and say this is it! It would not be easy to continue doing things for them.
God draws a line in the sand when people abuse Jesus. When people turn their backs on Jesus and insult him, it is not redemption. God does not allow people to mess with Him or Jesus. And we must hear and hear these words clearly. God is not a God who changes the goalposts to make room for those who are out of the way. Somewhere is enough and the next step is towards the fire:
28If the penalty for breaking the law of Moses is physical death, 29what do you think will happen if you turn against the Son of God, spit on the sacrifice that made you well, and insult this merciful Spirit? 30This is no small matter. God has warned us that he will hold us accountable and make us pay.
This is certainly not light music and I’m really happy not to be grouped with those people. Still, I have to be careful. Do I not sometimes fall into the trap of a lifestyle that makes the blood of Jesus unimportant?
All of us must make sure that we always live within the prescriptions of the Word of God. We must remember that God is only God. Yes, He is full of love and grants us grace upon grace, but God will not allow us to mess with Him or Jesus.
May you and I never experience what it means when God begins to dole out punishment. Let us do our best to live as grateful children of God. Grateful that the blood of Jesus flowed to pay for our many, many sins.
May we never abuse the blood and grace of Jesus.
Holy Scripture
Hebrews 10:26-31
Reflection
Do you live within God’s guidelines?
Where might you be drifting off course?
Who do you need to help so as not to be subjected to God’s punishment?
Sentence
Father, sometimes I tremble at the thought of how badly You will punish people who do not live according to Your will. Help me not to fall into the trap. Help me help others live on the right side of the line. In the name of Jesus. Amen.