February 27
“Jesus said to him, ‘On the other hand, it is written, “You shall not put the Lord Your God to the test.” ’ ” Matthew 4:7
When we sin, when we disobey God in our pride, our ignorance, our hardness of heart, our stubbornness, aren’t we doing exactly that, putting the Lord to the test? Not revering God, not fearing God, not honoring Him by obeying Him, knowingly sinning against Him, aren’t we putting Him to the test, really? I believe this is exactly what we are doing every time we choose to not obey Him, every time we quench the Spirit, every time we choose to not do what we know we should do.
It is a fortunate thing that God is so patient with us, is it not? If He were to strike us down and immediately give us severe consequences every time we sin, we would not last long. I know I at least would not. But this benefit, this love and patience of God, can also become something that we take advantage of and presume upon. Simply stated, by knowingly sinning, by knowingly not doing what we know the Lord would have us do, we are putting Him to the test. And this is sin.
I know I do not fear God enough. Every day I go through times when I know or think I know that I should do a particular thing, but for whatever reason I don’t do that thing. Perhaps because it is hard, perhaps because it involves an interaction that I don’t want to have, perhaps because I am feeling some emotional pain, perhaps because I am just discouraged or tired, I decline to do the thing that the Lord is indicating I should do. And after a little while, my refusal grows into a stubborn, self-willed determination to do what I, in the flesh, want to do. The flesh now has gained control, and I am putting God to the test.
What am I saying when I put God to the test? Am I not in effect saying, “I’m going to do what I want to do, God, and I am going to gamble that you will not punish me too severely for it, if at all.” This is blatant sin! If I were God, I would punish this attitude more than I would if the sin occurred without this presumptuous, “I dare you to punish me” attitude toward the Almighty God! Perhaps God sees it that way also, and perhaps He does give us harsher consequences when we demonstrate that pride in our hearts.
Learning to be obedient to everything in God’s word and everything God leads us to do is probably the most difficult thing one will ever do. This is perhaps especially true for those of us who are accustomed to doing our own thing, doing and saying what we want to do and say, and being the ones in charge. It seems to me like the most difficult thing I have ever tried to do, learning to listen to the Spirit’s voice and obey Him. But it is also the most joyful and rewarding thing I have ever done. Not obeying His Word and His leading is putting Him to the test, and is the opposite of revering the Lord and fearing Him. And make no mistake about it, God will prevail against us and punish us with certainty, when we have that attitude presumptuous attitude toward Him. Choose obedience and the fear of the Lord. It is your life!