Disobey or Reject
both have Consequences…
'This is what the Lord says: “For three sins of Judah, even for four, I will not relent. Because they have rejected the law of the Lord and have not kept his decrees, because they have been led astray by false gods, the gods their ancestors followed, I will send fire on Judah that will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem.”' Amos 2:4-5
i previously wrote about disobedience and sometimes confuse it between rejection. there is a difference between - to disobey and to reject, and had to look it up to be sure:
disobedient - adjective, unwilling to submit to authority; not obeying or complying with commands of those in authority. synonyms: ignore, evade, defy
reject - verb, refuse to accept or acknowledge; deem wrong or inappropriate. synonyms: dismiss, refuse, renounce,
overall, i feel that to disobey means you know what is right and you still do the opposite; whereas, to reject is to believe that “The Law” was wrong to begin with so you don’t follow it.
the first 2 chapters of amos cover israel and the nations around them about their rejection of God’s laws and from the great sins they were and had committed, separating themselves from the truth and The God of their fathers. this is more of a warning of things to come if they didn’t clean up their act. similarly in our lives, when we reject the truth and do what is wrong - their usually is a price to pay, and sometimes it is a huge one that you can’t afford.
click link to learn more about the book of amos, also check out The Bible Project.
i am definitely guilty of being disobedient, but not in rejection of, when it comes to our state’s driving laws. case in point, i even got a text this morning from one of my accountability brothers, cheyenne, reminding me of slowing down as i zoomed past him while going into town.
rejecting federal or state law regarding crimes is pretty stupid - this i would chalk up to pride. as one who had performed such activities, i didn’t really think about what life would be like if i got caught until i did. while i was shown mercy and grace, i realized my life would have changed considerably while hurting so many besides my life.
“The Laws” from the Word of God was to help direct us and it’s simply dumb to think there would be no repercussion by not following them. while i can’t say i do perfectly, i genuinely believe in the perfect Word of God (The Bible), the lessons taught and demonstrated by our Savior Jesus, and try to live out my life guided by them. want to learn and grow from doing so, not suffer the ramifications from purposely ignoring them.
Father God, please teach me not to be disobedient, and definitely to not reject Your Word. help my family and i to follow your Words, your Instructions, and live it out to demonstrate our love for you. in Jesus’ name i pray, amen!