Cheater, Cheater!

by Angela Moore

How Soon We Forget

Have you ever listened to a great teaching or sermon, then walked out of the door of the church building to realize that you could hardly remember what it was even about? How soon we forget the words and teachings of our God! As people drive away from the church building, they flip on their radio to listen to music with foul language; begin to fuss and fight with their spouse; holler at their kids; cut off the person in traffic and start criticizing the pastor or the worship team or gossiping about someone. If only we could remember the words of God and be applying them to our lives, to our thoughts, to our actions, to our words!

"Yahweh said to Moses,

"Speak to the Israelites and tell them that throughout their generations they are to make tassels for the corners of their garments, and put a blue cord on the tassel at each corner. These will serve as tassels for you to look at, so that you may remember all Yahweh's commands and obey them and not become unfaithful by following your own heart and your own eyes. This way you will remember and obey all My commands and be holy to your god. I am Yahweh your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God; I am Yahweh your God." Numbers 15:37-41.

The reason we should care that we remember God's words and obey them, is that when we don't, and we begin to follow our own ideas and our own will, we become unfaithful to Him. It's like cheating on Him. Rather than being completely devoted to our one Lord God, [His Name is Yahweh] our commitment becomes compromised, when we start following our own heart and our own eyes. We become adulterers in the mind of God. In Jeremiah 3:8-10, God likens us following after other gods (anyone or anything besides HIM) as committing adultery against Him. We become a cheating spouse. "Cheater, Cheater!"

Back in Numbers chapter 14, when the Israelites were unfaithful to their God, their consequence was an added 40 years of troubled times wandering out in the desert wilderness, when they could have been enjoying their own homes, vineyards, and abundant crops in their promise land. Yahweh does not look favorably upon one who disregards His voice.

Although we are not wandering in a desert somewhere, we are to see the Israelites as "examples for us, so that we will not desire evil things as they did." I Corinthians 10:5. Let us be careful to remember the words God has spoken "to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the ages through him." Hebrews 1:1-2.

God's word was spoken through His Son Jesus, and it is vastly important that we listen and obey these words to us as well.

"This is My beloved Son;

listen to Him!"

Mark 9:7.



So what shall we do, my friend? How can we remember the words of God, spoken through His prophets and in the later days, spoken through His Christ? How can we remain faithful to Him?

"Look, the days are coming"; this is Yahweh's declaration; "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. This one will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; a covenant they broke even though I had married them" [Yahweh's declaration] "Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days," [Yahweh's declaration] "I will put My teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be My people. No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying 'Know Yahweh, for they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest of them" [this is Yahweh's declaration] "For I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sin." Jeremiah 31:31-34.

The key to being faithful to our God, Yahweh

The Messiah is God's new covenant! When we believe that Jesus is God's Son, sent to preach the gospel of the Kingdom and then to die for our sins upon a cross; when we believe that Yahweh raised His Son from the dead so that he became the first man to ever receive immortality; then as believers, we receive something special. As followers of Christ Jesus, we are given the gift of God's Spirit to dwell within us.

"The Holy Spirit is God's active presence and His mind and power at work in our lives through His revealed word." (a great definition provided by author and pastor from Australia, Greg Deuble).

Why is this important and key to our being faithful to our God? Because without His Spirit dwelling inside of us, helping us, reminding us of God's spoken and written word upon our hearts, we naturally forget. We follow after our own will, our own desires, our own flesh. With the help of God's Spirit dwelling within us, we are able to walk in His Spirit and follow after Him, listening to His voice and obeying it.

Without His Spirit, it is impossible to follow and obey His words. We can't do it on our own efforts. We can for a bit, but eventually, we will exhaust ourselves and fail utterly in our attempt to do so.

The Challenge

So we need to ask ourselves, are we really saved?

Have we received the gift of God's Holy Spirit within us?
Are we listening to His words and obeying them?
Do we know His words?
Are we abiding, daily, in His words?
Are we committed and devoted to our one Lord God, or are our loyalties split
between following and obeying Him on somethings, on some days, and at other
times, forgetting Him and doing whatever we feel like at the moment?

Can we see the evidence [or fruit] of God's Spirit in our lives or are we just
accomplishing things through our own effort and in reality, God has divorced
us, and left us to flounder on our own?

Have we only returned to God in pretense?

Have we made empty promises to follow and obey God, only to quickly forget and
do our own thing?

It's not easy, my friend, but we must challenge ourselves to learn to abide continually in the word of God and allow His Spirit to lead and direct us in our thoughts, words and deeds.

Otherwise, we're just a cheater, deceiving ourselves.

Let us renew our commitment to our God, Yahweh, today! He is quick to forgive and full of love and grace, through His Son, Jesus. His mercies are new every morning. His is faithful. He is patient with us, wanting no one to perish, but have everlasting life. Let us return to our God right now.