Wednesday, December 21, 2011

In the beginning was the Word

My senior pastor gave his last sermon on 18 December. It was with both a tinge of sadness and joy as the man I've been listening to for almost all of the time I've spent in the church retires but consequently gains the freedom to move into even bigger things God has planned for him.

Significantly, for someone who has increasingly focused on the supernatural and prophetic with the focus of bringing the Kingdom of God down to earth, my pastor chose to focus on Hosea 4:6 as the main reference for his sermon.

Hosea 4:6 English Standard Version (ESV)
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

As God's people, we have a covenant with God. Deliberate ignorance of what this covenant relationship with God entails on our part will have devastating consequences for us. This is laid out very clearly in Hosea, where there is a warning of destruction for followers of God who have rejected knowledge or have not pursued knowledge, and where there is also a warning of rejection from God not only for ourselves but also for future generations if we forget the law of our God.

And where do we learn about God and His law? From His Word. That is where we begin and that is where we should end.

No comments: