"Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked by human precept." ~Hosea 5:11 When we run our lives by human logic, rules, or standards instead of God's--what happens? We afflict ourselves. Stress. Burn-out. Legalism. Double standards. Even wrong doctrine. And so on. So many issues can be traced to this root problem. When we embrace human precepts, our judgement becomes flawed. We make bad choices, value the wrong things, and end up 'oppressing, breaking' ourselves. Oppressed--breaking. So many memories of those emotions flooded me that I couldn't stop underlining this verse. In serving, as Christians: Why so stressed, Lord? So burnt-out, exhausted, breathless, discouraged?Sadly, we are imperfect. Our hearts may even have the right desires but our minds have our own ideas on how to carry them out. We rely on our own logic and wisdom, and afflict ourselves as result. I thought over this verse and tried to consider how I had been walking by human precepts, and so afflicting myself. I wanted to serve God, to help others see that He is real, and He is good. But maybe I was relying on my own logic and wisdom to do so. God did not intend for us to get burnt-out, disillusioned, or even superficial through serving Him. No! God is not pleased when I throw all my energy into something I think is service for Him; and get exhausted, discouraged, or self-righteous as result. I may think I've worked hard for God and pleased God just because I've drained myself dry--but have I? I'm afflicting myself. Maybe I've bought willingly into the values and perspective of the world. I think I can't be happy or fulfilled without other people's approval--popularity, 'coolness', achievements, and so on. Or, without having what everyone wants; freedom, relationships, possessions, etc. And I am crushed, broken, when I don't have them or can't have them. I'm afflicting myself. Or maybe, even in my relationships and perceptions of others and myself. Maybe I've formed my own ideas of how Christians should behave, and I make judgments on others that Christ would never have made. I forget the 'like me' part of 'they are sinners.' Or God makes more sense to me this way, works better for me this way. I decide to worship the God I've created/tweaked accordingly, because I think my version's better than the Bible's. I'm afflicting myself. But as verse 15 continues, that's not the end of of it. God doesn't leave us to continue being oppressed and broken by ourselves: "I will return again to My place till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me."
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