How can God be in contact with sin? That would
be contrary to His heart (Ps 50:16, 17; 66:18) Contrary to purity and holiness
that is intrinsic in His heart. The wicked make a mockery of God, or try to.
God thwarts that, triumphing at and in the cross. In Christ, God extends His
hand and says, “Come to me”. And when men make a mockery of God, God turns a
deaf ear and regards their worship as an abomination. He sees their worship for
what it truly is, vain and false. (Pr 1:24-28, 15:8,29) How do I make a mockery
of God? What do I do that is a mockery of Him? Is my worship contradictory to my
life? Am I hypocritical? Am I causing His sacrifice to be nullified by not
living as God wants me to live (Is 1:12-15)? Am I denying God by trying to set
my own standards and saying that it is God’s standard? Or am I truly going by
His Word. Have I lost the commonness of being in fellowship with others and God
by acting separate and distinct from what God has told me that He expects of
me? Has it become rote? When my worship becomes an obligation then it becomes
an appeasement, something done not out of reverence and love but because it is
expected if I want to go to heaven, as though I was trying to ingratiate myself
into the good graces of a rich uncle to ensure my stake in His inheritance. But
God is not a rich uncle, He is a kind, feeling, loving Father. And my
inheritance is assured. I can waste that inheritance. I can be like the
prodigal son and take the temple that I call my body and make it a pig sty,
living badly and justify that God will not take my inheritance from me. No,
when I live badly, I make my decision to waste my inheritance and make the even
bigger decision to do something that God can never and will never accept if I
am to become like Him. God really gives me the freedom to make my mistakes,
small or large. He also gives me the freedom not to come back. And when I chose
that route, He leaves me to what I have told Him I want. Life without Him. I
can come back as many times as I want. But even God has limits. If I keep
treating Him like a rug that I will quickly forget and neglect because I have
stepped on it so many times, then how is He to trust me that I am truly sorry?
How can He take seriously my promise to do better? (Prov 15:1) Even my prayers
are not heard. (Lam 3:8,44) And all that is happening is that God is giving me
and treating me exactly as I asked to be treated. (Mic 3:4; Zec 7:12,13) And it
isn’t just when I do evil, not just when I overtly sin, but when my worship
becomes obligatory, like a robot performing a function because that is what I
am supposed to do. By rote. (Mal 1:9) when there is no love, and my passion is
non-existent. (Mal 2:11-13) So I am doing the right thing for the wrong reason
and in the process I grow further and further from God without knowing it (John
9:31). I have created an idol, rather than understanding the full meaning of
who God is. I worship an image of God and not the true God, as though my image
of Him was real. It will get to the point where I do not know God. And my
relationships with others becomes sour because I won’t treat the Creator of the
universe right. If that is so, then why should I bother to treat His created
right? (1Pe 3:7) My prayer becomes stale and smelly. Rather than having the
fragrance of sweet perfume of virtue. My thoughts waver in the wind. I put
words in God’s mouth. There are things I know He’ll answer, things I am sure He
won’t and so my prayer life becomes one of mere formality. I already know His
response. And God allows this life to continue. Why should He interfere with
the concept, especially that eventually I will find it empty and lifeless? That
is punishment enough for me. And yet He will not break down my idols unless I
ask Him too. And while I have idols, it is hard for Him to take me seriously
that indeed I want to worship the true God.
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