Resenting God’s Word

Written by Zhey Chua |Posted on June 5, 2008 | Comments

Do you resent God’s Word?

Everyone would probably be answering “Of course not” to this question, I, too, would say “I do not resent God’s Word one bit” without batting an eyelash if asked the same. But don’t we, really?

Today, Drawing Near teaches about how we sometimes get surprised at how the Bible exposes our sins and how these situations illicit reactions from us. Are you someone who accepts the truth graciously and repents or are you someone who feels annoyed at how you are being confronted by what you are reading from the Scriptures or hearing from your pastor?

Apparently, if we are the latter, then we are one of those people who resent God’s Word. We are one of those who would rather hear and read what pleases us rather than accept even the difficult and painful. In short, we like to live in our own make-believe worlds.

Well, it’s time to get up and leave our fantasy lands, fellows. It is time to face reality and accept the fact that we cannot go on forever listening only to what we want to hear.

In 2 Timothy 4:1-5, the apostle Paul writes to Timothy about preaching the Word. He commanded Timothy to be prepared all the time, to stick to what is written in the Scriptures, to follow instructions carefully, to be persistent and to not give up in evangelizing.

He also writes about how people will want to hear falsehoods instead of the truth, “…the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear…” he furthers. Paul also charged Timothy to be circumspect and dispassionate, “But you, keep your head in all situations…,” he commanded. Paul wanted Timothy, and all faithful ministers of the Word for that matter, to “*prove and show with substantial proof that you are the true minister of God” (*BibleWorks V5, Geneva Bible Notes).

This is a charge not only to Timothy but to all Christians. When we hear someone speaking from the pulpit, do we draw near because what is being preached pleases us but compromises the Truth? Or do we draw near because our sins get confronted and it helps us deal with them? When we read the Scriptures and find something that exposes us, do we end up feeling angry or do we immediately close our eyes in prayer, acknowledgment of our sins and repent?

And when we minister to our brethren, do we speak only the words that we presume they would rather hear and keep the rest hidden? Do we sugarcoat? Are we afraid to confront our sinning brothers or sisters for fear of offending them? Do we preach inaccurately so as to soften the blow in order to avoid exposing our listeners’ sins?

We can only answer these questions to ourselves, but may it bring us all to light and make us realize the more important and eternal things that we should set our hearts on – the TRUTH. Sugar-coat free TRUTH.