March 14, 2010

Today's reading: Judges 3, 4, 5; Psalm 14, 44, 74, 104, 134; Proverbs 14

Psalm 14:1, "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good."

Our Pastor was relating a story today from his elementary school days. He told of how he was called upon in class to read out loud like the other students. He said for some reason he got it into his head that he did not want to read out loud. When it came his turn the teacher called his name and instructed him to read a certain part of the material. He promptly said, "No." The teacher responded "Do you know who I am?" From this point it went downhill quick. He told of being in the principal's office and his parents being called in and how he received the "rod of correction".

There are certain authorities in our lives that you just do not say "no" to. One of such is your teachers. This is academic suicide to say the least. This is exactly what we have in our passage today. Notice the words "there is" are in italics. This means they were added so that the sentences would make sense. Remove these words and what do you get? You end up with, "The fool hath said in his heart, no God." The word "fool" means stupid or wicked in this verse. In other words the Psalmist is saying if you deny God you are not too smart and you are wicked.

This is typical of our day. We see people getting further and further away from God. The more people run away from God the more wicked they become. Look at Psalm 74:20, "Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty." Everywhere you look today there is wickedness. We live in a dark and evil day. On the other hand it should be easier for us to let our light shine in such a dark day. The darker it is the brighter the light appears.

Be careful about who you tell no. Don't tell God no. Maybe He has been trying to talk to you and you have been ignoring Him. I hope you will listen to Him today and obey His voice. You don't want to go to the wood shed do you?