WHAT YOU THINK HEAR
A friend shared the following story with me that
illustrates that what you think you hear is not always what is said.
It
seems that a young mother took her 3 year old son shopping at a local mall one
day. Things went fairly well and the boy was well behaved, but by lunch he was
getting tired of the whole "shopping" thing. They stopped at the mall food court
and had lunch and the mother asked the boy if he would like to go to the big toy
store in the mall. He cried, "Yes," and immediately took off running as fast as
his little legs could carry him. The mother, caught off guard took off after
him, him running through the mall and she chasing him, which of course drew the
attention of many of the other mall shoppers. When they neared the entrance of
the store the mother almost caught up with the fast toddler. Thinking she would
make a game out of it as to who got to the entrance first, the mother called
out, "I'm going to beat you!"
To her horror the toddler came to a
screeching halt misunderstanding his mother's intent and screamed, "PLEASE DON'T
BEAT ME MOMMA, I'LL BE GOOD." You can imagine the looks the mother got from
those mall shoppers watching the event.
I guess it's not surprising how
many times we misunderstand what God says to us, it seems it is human nature to
hear what we want to hear, not what is actually said. How many times does God
have to tell us, to live in purity of life, yet we don't think he really means
it? Some cheat on their taxes; cheat on their spouses; lie when it suits their
needs. Some will commit sexual sins and honestly believe that God didn't really
mean it when he specified things we are to refrain from doing.
The
scripture tells us that "God's Word is Truth," and that we will be judged by
every word contained in his book, the bible. Yet, often we persist in hearing
only what we want to hear or what we think it may mean. Understand this, when
God says "don't do something, or you will be punished for it," he means it.
There is an interesting passage in Revelation 21:7-8 that makes a
statement regarding this thought. Notice what God says: "All who are victorious
will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be My
children. But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the sexually
immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars, their
fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."
Please understand that God is not a God of anger or a God that delights
in punishment anymore than you as a parent do. But there will come a time when
we will receive our "just deserts" as the saying goes.
Perhaps we need to
be more careful as to what God really said, and not what we think he said.
Russ Lawson,
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