If anyone does not love the Lord—a curse be on him.
Come, O Lord!
1 Corinthians 16:22
There are a lot of strange ideas running around out there about God. One giant (and dangerous) misconception is this image of a Santa Claus type character–a kindly old gentleman who laughs at everything and is incapable of moral discernment and judgment.
The truth of the matter is that while God is love–compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in mercy, He’s also ferociously holy and perfectly just.
God’s sweet, nurturing nature has another side to it–Jehovah is a warrior, as the Scriptures declare. He wars against wrongdoing, evil, injustice and sin. To oppose the King, or to withhold what is rightfully His due, is truly unwise.
Paul closes his letter to his dear friends in Corinth with a sobering, somber thought–Christians without a growing, reverent love for the Lord are headed for trouble.
Blessings and curses in the Bible are often connected to one two-letter word: IF. If you love the Lord, you’ll have His peace, joy and blessing. If you’ve come to know Him and forsake that love, you invite the chastisement of heaven; you’ve asked the Warrior to come make things right…and He will, and He does, because He loves you.
So there’s only one rational thing to do: Love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul and strength! If you can’t do it just because it’s the right thing to do, then attend to the matter out of self-regard.
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