Thursday, May 17, 2007

Life and Death III

"For wickedness burneth as the fire; it shall devour the briers and thorns..." Isaiah 9:18a

Earlier in Isaiah, we found the whole of Israel covered in briers and thorns (Isaiah 7:23, 24). Now we see wickedness consuming them all, i.e., consuming the whole land, until the people "shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke."
There are two things that are consuming fires in the Bible: evil (Isaiah 9:18) and God (Hebrew 12:29). This is the essential nature of both good and evil, life and death, God and not-God. When you yield to one, you are releasing its consuming fires from you, whether it be the consummation of God unto holiness of the consummation of evil unto death.
"To whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are..." (Romans 6:16). Which consummative nature do you bind yourself to? Some of us may believe that our actions create some kind of ripple that may have some consequences to consider. Most never think about actions and consequences. Who amongst us truly believes that our choices and actions will either release the full force of the presence of God, or release death with hell right behind him?
Your decisions decide your destiny. What destiny do you choose for yourself today: "of sin unto death," or "of obedience unto righteousness?" (Romans 6:16) Choose wisely what you let consume you.

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