THE FOLLY OF KNOWING AND NOT DOING
Jesus said, "But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall." (Matthew 7:26, 27). In line with that same thought the Jesus also said, "And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself to do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes." (Luke 12:47).
There are two things shown by these verses: 1) Upon hearing the message of Christ it is extremely important to heed it and do the will of God; and, 2) If we do not do the will of God we are in for a great fall and terrible punishment in perdition. The Lord knows what is the best for every person and does not give a command which would in any way take away from the quality of life. Let us carefully listen to the teaching of the will of God and be willing to do it immediately.
l. The Lord knows the best for us. To use an everyday illustration - if you had an expert on human health to tell you that certain foods need to be eaten to have good health and you did not heed his advice it would lead to poor health and eventually death. You would suffer in physical health for failing to listen to good advice. The same is true of nourishment for the soul. The Lord "had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man." (John 2:25). Mosie Lister wrote a song, "He knows just what I need", based on Matthew 6:8 - "For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him." While he also knew that there would be opposition from the devil' s side when people live the Christian life, he also knew that it is the best life here as wen as pleasing God so we would hear the welcome words, "Well done good and faithful servant." (Matthew 25:21, 23).
2. The person who hears and does not do the will of God misses out on abundant living here. Jesus said, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly."(John 10:10). Evil people and the devil do not care if you hurt or if some calamity comes in your life but Jesus Christ cares. In I Peter 5:8 we are told, "casting all your care upon Him for He cares for you." Any who are not Christians do not have a caring Savior.
3. The person who hears and does not because he thinks he has plenty of time to make a change may not have a chance to do the will of God when he dies or the Lord comes. The Lord said,
"But if that evil servant says in his heart, My master is delaying his coming, and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 24:48-51). James pointed out, "You do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away." (James 4:14). The Lord can come at any hour. Death can come in just a moment.
4. The person who hears and does not deceives himself. James pointed out, "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was." (James 1 :22-24). People can get so caught up in worldly cares that the gospel is no longer appealing to them. They put far away the evil day and cause the seat of violence to come near (Amos 6:3). Satan will see to it that we lose any desire to do the will of God if we let him. "For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them." (Matthew 13:15).
5. Some people hear and do the will of God for a while but in time of temptation turn their backs on God. 2 Peter 2:20-22 states, "For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them that the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: 'A dog returns to his own vomit', and 'a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire"'. We are thankful that there is a second law of pardon which is to repent of sins, confess them to God and pray for forgiveness (Acts 8:22; I John 1 :9). However some become so hard hearted that they will not repent (Hebrews 6:6).
The Will of God is faith, repentance, confession, and baptism for the sinner who has not come to God.(Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38 & 8:37) The will of God is faithfulness to worship, uphold the truth, and live a pure life to the born again person (Revelation 2:10; John 4:24; I Timothy 4:12; Titus 2:11, 12). - C. D.