Let’s say you take some illegal drugs (I hope you don’t be the way, but just hear me out). Let’s say you take some illegal drugs and then ask God to bless your experience. Would you then think that God was bad or negligent if he didn’t bless it? Of course not. After all, you’re asking him to bless something that is inconsistent with his will. 

The same logic could work in other scenarios too. What if you exploited others, or gossiped harshly about a friend, or misused the name of Christ, or visited a fortune teller, or fill-in-the-blank-here, and then asked God to bless your actions. Would you then think that God was bad or negligent if he didn’t do it? 

Before you think I’m unduly harsh and unsubscribe to this devotional, follow the logic.

All of us sin. Happily, we are made right with God through Christ and what he has done for us on the cross—not because of our own moral achievements (or failures). This is partly why the gospel is “good news.” It is a free gift of grace that we receive through faith. Praise be to God!

At the same time, we are trying—with the help of the Holy Spirit—to be more like Christ. Rejecting or neglecting his ways is like personally assembling a road block on our own path. Does God want us to help us grow further from him, or closer?

In Matthew 7:24 Jesus says: “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Notice how it isn’t just about hearing his words, but putting them into practice. Wisdom consists in living out the teachings of Christ.

Kevin Myers and John Maxwell write: “Living in sin and asking God to bless it is like driving on the wrong side of the road and asking God to protect you.”*

Brothers and sisters, following the Word of God helps you, neglecting it hurts you.

This isn’t about feeling bad. It’s about being honest, and about opening our hearts and minds to God’s best for each and every one of us. 

Is there an area of your life in which you are intentionally sinning, and which you still expect God to bless?

Just imagine the peace and wisdom we will increasingly experience as we align our day-to-day choices with the teachings of Jesus.

Following the Word of God helps you, neglecting it hurts you.

Notes:

-*Kevin Myers and John C. Maxwell, Home Run: Learning God’s Game Plan for Life and Leadership (New York: Faith Words, 2014), 94.
-Bible quotes are from the ESV.