Bible Reading: Psalm 16 & 17; Acts 20:1-19
“Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god…” Psalms 16:4 (KJV)
A life without God is characterized by sadness, grief and of course, lack of joy. You hardly see anyone truly serving God looking sad. But those who serve other gods simply radiate sadness all around them. Israel was once in that situation; for a long season they were without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without the law. As a result, “…There was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexatious were upon all the inhabitants of the countries” 2 Chronicles 15:5 (KJV). If Israel could experience this for not having God, how about those who “hasten after another god?”
One of the reasons God gave Israel the cities around them is because these cities worship other gods. God is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14) and commands not to worship another god. But the cities around the Israelites were worshipping woods, stone, iron and every funny things made by man as their god. They worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25). As a result they were booted out of their land by God through Israel, and the few who were spared became slaves.
Today, people worship and serve mammon. Jesus said, ” No man can serve two masters… ye cannot serve God and mammon” Matthew 6:24 (KJV). Mammon here is money and its debasing influence in people’s lives. Money is good when you have the right attitude for it, but a love for it is the root of all evils and expressway to sorrow in people’s lives (1 Timothy 6:10).
God has not changed. He gave us the bible so that we can learn from the events of the past in making our decisions today. For as many that hurry after and serve other gods, their sadness, grief and anger shall be multiplied. They will lose their placement in life and their lives will be cut short as they have no hope for resurrection.
But serving God comes with so many blessings that forbids sorrow. He blesses our bread and water and takes sickness away from us, with no life cut short (Exodus 23:25-26). The young man, Eutychus, who slept off while listening to Paul speak all night, and fell from a window and died, was brought back to life by God through Paul (Acts 20:7-12). This is a good example of how serving God averts sorrow from our lives.
Prayer: Father, I thank You for the priviledge of knowing You and Your Son, Jesus Christ. I receive grace to serve You faithfully all the days of my life. I receive grace to overcome all distractions in the cause of my service to You, in Jesus name.
Bro. Onyema Aghanenu