| Good morning, everyone, Our theme for this month: “Sound doctrine, strong faith” Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore God delivered them over in the desires of their hearts …” Romans 1:24 (CSB) Our thought for today: “God will let you suffer the consequences” Continuing our thinking from yesterday regarding the wrath of God directed towards those who choose idols of the world over Him, in Romans 1:24 Paul introduces another way in which the wrath of God is experienced (and it is much more immediate than those other ways we considered yesterday). In verse 24 we read that God delivers them over to the desires of their hearts. That too is an expression of God’s wrath. The types of God’s wrath described yesterday are all evidenced in the future, either at death or at the end of the age in the final judgment. But this is a more immediate and ongoing experience of God’s wrath. The other experiences are spiritual in nature and occur in the spiritual realm, this expression of God’s wrath is for the here and now and it manifests itself in the body and the soul. When God gives us over to the desires of our hearts that’s another way of saying that He is letting us have what we want, and He is letting us experience the consequences of those choices. Those consequences can manifest themselves in innumerable ways. They can take the form of addictions to drugs or alcohol or food. They can take the form of damaged and destroyed relationships. The consequences can come to us as sexually transmitted diseases, or crushing indebtedness, or lost jobs, or in many other forms. The fact is that choices have consequences and bad choices have bad consequences. When God gives people over to the desires of their wicked hearts it means that they experience the consequences of their choices. God is not going to protect us from the bad results that come to us because did something we should not have been doing to begin with. This can also mean that He has stopped trying to deter us from doing those things. In other words, He is saying, “If you are so determined to do this thing that I have expressly forbid, then go right ahead and do it with nothing held back. If you’re going to do it anyway, then go ahead and do it fully so you can experience the full impact of that bad choice. Maybe that will get your attention.” He is giving you over to the desires of your wicked heart. This pertains not just to unbelievers – people who have never placed their faith in Christ but to Christians too. Christians experience such consequences too, and in some respects even more so. Many Christians ignore or reject certain Biblical principles, and they pursue things that God has forbid or cautioned against. Christians too sometimes exchange the glory of God for the false idols of the world – like money or possessions or achievements or power or praise or addictive substances or whatever. In those cases, the Holy Spirit will be actively working in that person’s life to convict them of that sin and to make them miserable in it. God will let you experience the misery of it – the full impact of your sinful choices, so that you will hopefully repent and return to Him. It’s not just unbelievers who seek substitutes for God. We do it too, and it is always bad. Beware, because God will let you experience the consequences of your sinful choices. God bless, Pastor Jim (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville |
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