DESTRUCTION OVER INSTRUCTION

Do you ever feel like the world we live in is backwards from the way it used to be?

Like things that should make sense don’t anymore? Governments are getting away with things in plain sight and innocent people are suffering for it. Justice seems to have gone by the wayside.

Does it seem like people get away with murder, false accusations and lies, while the innocent are blamed and condemned?

This is nothing new. There is no new thing under the sun. Things going on now have gone on before and as long as the devil is roaming the Earth it will go on again and again.

Ecclesiastes 1:9 - The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

People are going about doing their own thing. They set their own paths.

Paul said in 1 Philippians 3:18-19 - (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

And do you know that people will still go against the Lord even though He said He would destroy them?

They seek destruction over instruction! It’s like people want nothing to do with God or good. They want to go their own way and do what they want to do. And you can’t tell some of them anything.

Many know the outcome of taking the wrong road. The road that leads to destruction.

Hosea 4:6 - My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

You could have eternal life with Jesus, free from pain, no sorrows to bear, no sickness and much more, or you can have eternal torment, unthinkable terror, gnawing and gnashing of teeth, a fire that can never be quenched.

Although it should be an easy choice, they still choose destruction over instruction!

Jeremiah 117:23 - But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction.

All the Lord God asked was for His people to hear instruction, keep His ways, be wise and refuse it not.

Throughout the Book of Jeremiah, the Lord is insistently trying to warn Judah of its fate if it does not turn from its sins, repent and follow the ways of the Lord.

In Jeremiah 35, - Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? saith the Lord.

He gave them chance after chance to do the right thing and prosper, but they would not hearken unto Him or His Word.

They chose destruction over instruction! They even searched out Jeremiah to enquire of the Lord on their behalf and still didn’t follow the ways of God or follow His design for their lives.

In Chapter 42, Men of Judah search out Jeremiah to ask of the Lord on their behalf what He desires for them to do. They even go as far to say whether it be good or not we will obey the voice of the Lord.

Jeremiah prays to the Lord for this answer, the Lord outlines what he desires these to do and they do the very opposite of what He told them.

God told them if they did the opposite they would die by the sword, famine, and pestilence.

The Lord said, if ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you, but if you do noy obey the voice of the Lord your God, certainly ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn.

And by not listening to the Lord God, they signed their own death warrant and that of all those who willingly followed.

They chose destruction over instruction! If you don’t listen to the Lord, there are consequences to come. The people had chance after chance but did not heed the Lord’s warnings. They chose destruction over instruction and destruction did come.

He pleaded with His people then and is still pleading with us at this very hour.

He sent them prophets and judges; He even sent His Only Begotten Son and they would not listen!

God has given us the promises of blessings; abundant blessings. Protection. Help in troubled times. Blessings in our households, marriages, families, finances, health. Salvation! He gave us His Only Begotten Son!

And yet man consistently chooses destruction, the curses of God, sickness, loss, death in both the spiritual and the natural.

The choice is ours. Instruction or destruction. Which path have you chosen?