Today’s Heart Notes post is one that digs deeply into our hearts in order to up-end sin and disobedience. This week’s verse gets all up in our business, friends. As uncomfortable as that is, I believe we need that kind of confrontation from time to time so that our hearts stay cleansed before God. Now, with that said, I want to tell you that I am not trying to get all preachy and self-righteous here. God works me up one side and down the other with stuff like this long before it ever appears on the screen for you to read.
Shall we dig in?
Do not be deceived; God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. Galatians 6:7 (NKJV)
Mocking God. Sounds dangerous, huh?
Let’s begin by defining exactly what Paul meant when he used the word, “mocked”. The Greek word that Paul used was mukterizo and it means to turn up one’s nose; to sneer, ridicule, or disdain. It means I tell God that He doesn’t know what He is doing, and I am going to do exactly as I please.
Are you thinking that you would never do that? Well, I smell what you are stepping in, friend, but that makes it no less smelly and filthy. I’ve done it, and so have you. Let’s ponder for a moment what it might look like to mock God. Consider some of the things God tells us to do or not to do:
- God says ‘keep the Sabbath holy’. I say ‘but I am too busy to take a day off to rest and worship’.
- God says ‘do not murder’. We have murdered untold millions of humans in their mother’s womb, all for sake of our convenience.
- God says ‘do not commit adultery’. We have lusted after one to whom we are not married. Some have committed adultery, yet called it an ‘affair’ to make it more acceptable.
- God says ‘do not lie’. You and I live in a culture of lying. One statistic says that over ninety percent of people surveyed admit to lying on a regular basis. Big lies, little white lies….we lie so often that our consciences have been seared and we are often unaware that what comes out of our mouth is a lie.
- God says, ‘be holy’. I choose actions, clothing, and words that are far from holy.
- God says, ‘do not covet’. Yet, we work more hours so we can ‘keep up with the Joneses who have the latest fashions, cars, and toys.
- God says that homosexuality, gluttony, and disrespecting parents are sins. We have been lulled into believing that those are acceptable in the world in which we live….a post-Christian, liberal world.
- God says that I am not to judge or show favoritism. How often have I looked down my nose at those I consider ‘less’ than me?
- God says to care for and show mercy to the orphan and the widow. Do I even stop long enough to find orphans and widows in need?
When you and I do the opposite of what God commands us to do, we are mocking God.
When I fail to do what He asks me to do, I am mocking God.
When we thumb our noses at God’s Word, deciding that we like our interpretation of Scripture better than what God’s Word says, we are mocking God.
When I call ‘right’ what God calls ‘wrong’, I am mocking God.
What happens to those who mock God? Our verse today says that we reap what we sow. If you plant a tomato plant, you expect to get tomatoes. If I grow an orange tree, I expect to reap oranges. When we mock God, we can expect to reap the consequences of disobedience. Punishment, disease, fractured human relationships, financial ruin, a reputation as a liar, and so much more. Worse still, my relationship with God is fractured when I mock Him. What is intended to be a close, tender, loving relationship between the Creator and His creation is ruined. It is only when we cease mocking God, repent of our sin, and return to obedience to His commands will our relationship with Him be restored.
Do not be deceived, friend. God will not be mocked!
