DON'T HARDEN YOUR NECK

DON'T HARDEN YOUR NECK
He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. Proverbs 29:1

This word from the Wisdom Writer strikes fear in me each time I read it. It should probably create the same response in many who regularly read the Freedom Fighter. We need to understand the consequence of stubborn refusal to hear God's rebuke in our lives.

I've mentioned this earlier in the month, but please hear me one more time. My experience tells me that many who struggle with addiction don't like rebukes. Some of us don't want God or anyone else telling us we're wrong. We don't accept confrontation, even when it comes from those who love us. We keep going our own way. We keep refusing to listen. In biblical terms, we harden our necks.

Hear what the Wisdom Writer says about those who harden their necks. "Sudden destruction" awaits them. As I think of this, I remember Paul's Lord's Supper instruction to the Corinthian Christians. Some people in that church died because of their disobedience. While God is infinitely patient, He will not continually tolerate our "hardened necks." This really is a fear-instilling admonition.

Think about the foolishness in all of this. Many of us who read this email every day have children. We've known their temper when they're small. Can you remember holding your small child as they arch their back in defiance? Adults do the same thing to God when they harden their necks. God will put up with our defiance only so long. That stubbornness will cost us. It may cost us everything, and it may be permanent.

These short lines of wisdom offer us a warning and a reminder. That God needs to warn and remind me saddens me. It doesn't make sense that people like us, who have received God's grace, will sometimes choose to defy Him. He never wants anything but our best. His rebukes always come to help us, not hurt us. Hardening our necks at His rebuke is foolish, harmful to us and dishonoring to God.

Don't forget: Freedom Fighters listen to rebuke rather than rejecting it. (Pastor John Strain -- First Baptist of Toms River)

Great Quote: ...the mechanics of a Spirit-filled life do not provide for a spasmodic filling that is, the Christian is not filled only when doing service such as preaching or teaching, but the Christian who is living a normal life of moment by moment yieldedness to God experiences a moment by moment fullness of the Spirit. No Christian can do with less and at the same time live a victorious life.

Kenneth Wuest