"Believe It or Not"

"Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently." (Psalms 119:4)

 There is a question that must be answered in our hearts, one that requires us to make a choice: Do I truly believe what God says I must do? It is really not a question of if, because if takes everything to a level of debate. There is no debate when it comes to keeping God's precepts; we either do them and live, or don't do them and die. Back to the rock and the law of gravity. We all know full well that if we throw ourselves off a thirty story building, the results are not going to look very pretty when we hit the ground. It is only common sense that tells us that we won't hit the ground softly. To put it in a little different light, precepts are considered to be a general rule to regulate behavior or thoughts, for example: If you jump off that building, you are most likely going to die! This is pretty much the kind of question presented to Eve, as the serpent said, "Hath God said, Thou shalt not eat?" Better yet, if God says, "Thou shalt not," to pretty much anything, you can bet it stands to reason that we should not even consider it as a choice. So then, what possibly can make it appear that we are given a choice? Obviously we must not be afraid of death, because if we were, we wouldn't even get close to that edge of the building. So, in the case of a serious misunderstanding, somehow the devil is able to convince us that death is not the option; as if God really isn't all that serious about what He says we should and should not do. Notice that the verse above does not say, "Thou hast suggested," because if it did, then it would bring forth a varied result. I can recall my mom saying that one or twice, as I started to reach into that cookie jar, just as she told me not to, she would say, "I suggest you would not do that." You know, once upon at time I thought I could place a cardboard box in a tree, get inside that box, push the box out of that tree, with me in it, and that the box would protect my fall. Boy, was I mistaken; it really did not turn out the way I thought it would turn out. God's commands are not suggestions, they are the way things work: His precepts are laws of good and bad! Just as God told Cain, good leads to good, bad leads to bad; it's just the way things are: Believe it or not...

""But this one thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you."" (Jeremiah 7:23) KJV