"The Unworthy"

"As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God." (Psalms 68:2) You actually need to put forth an effort to serve God, which basically means that you actually need to work at being the person that God has made you to be. You would think that you would have discovered that by now; in case you haven't noticed, doing nothing gets you nowhere! But, there is something very important to the way that we get things done, in case you haven't noticed, we have got to want to do it; otherwise, it's just not pleasant. Don't think for a moment that what you do being pleasant does not matter, because it does. In 1 John 5:3, it says, "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous." That word "grievous" means heavy or burdensome; much like it might be to do something that you really don't want to do, it becomes harder to do it, just because you really don't want to do it in the first place. But what if you don't? What if you really don't want to do those things which God commands us to do, but just want to do you own thing? You have got to want to do them! It is not an option! They are not suggestions for us to think about; they are called commands, because God is commanding us to do them; God is saying, "Do them, or else!" Or else what? Have you ever wondered what "else" actually meant when your parents would say that? Did you ever think, "Maybe I'll just take the else; it can't be any worse than doing what I don't want to do." With God, the "else" is simply "not being worthy", as in, you really do not stand the test! Not that God is constantly testing us or anything like that, because love itself is a test... "Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him, "Abba, Father." For His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children. And since we are God's children, we are His heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God's glory. But if we are to share His glory, we must also share His suffering." (Romans 8:12-17) NLT