Keeping the Way of God

The theme of the church for November is ¡§Endowment of Keeping¡¨. To keep means to carefully observe and diligently obey the word of God. (Deuteronomy 11:22, 6:17) In Psalm 119, the author mentioned to ¡§keep¡¨ or ¡§obey¡¨ God¡¦s word up to 21 times. Cautiously obeying God¡¦s word is the requisite attitude of a growing church. May believers in the Lord exhort each other through this adage, and endow yourselves with the holy truth to confront the spiritual battle.

"This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here.¡¦¡¨ (Zechariah 3:7) These words were spoken to the high priest Joshua, son of Jehozadak, by the angel of God. Zerubbabel and Joshua were respectively the political and religious leader. They led the first group of returned captive Israelites back to Jerusalem to rebuild the Holy Temple and restore worship, encountering much hardship along the way. Zechariah 3:1-5 recorded that Joshua had been facing Satan¡¦s severe accusation and hindrance. In the vision, He was wearing filthy clothes. The angel instructed him to remove the filthy clothes and put on the rich garments of a priest. The lesson taught to us by this passage is that those who serve God must first be rid of sin, as otherwise it will give Satan the opportunity for accusation, and also don the holy and pure garments provided by God before they can stand before the Lord. As well, if the service of man should continue to be pleasing to God and does not supply any justification to Satan for accusation, he must keep and obey the command of the Lord, in the same way as the angel of God exhorted Joshua to walk in God¡¦s ways and keep His requirements. The consequences brought forth are threefold: 1) he will govern God¡¦s house (govern can mean judge); 2) he will have charge of God¡¦s courts; and 3) he will live confidently before earthly men, and even before the angels and his enemies.

God has very stringent requirements of those who stand and serve before him. The server must keep clean and be cautious. All work that he does must be done according to the command of God, and not for the facility or by the method of man and not with a frivolous attitude. In those days, Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu were negligent in their duty to matters of the sanctuary, using unauthorized fire to burn incense, that resulted in their immediate execution by God. This is a solemn warning to all of us who serve the Lord. God said at the time, ¡§Among those who approach me I will show myself holy; in the sight of all the people I will be honored.¡¨ (Deuteronomy 10:3) Later God said to Aaron, ¡§You and your sons are not to drink wine or other fermented drink whenever you go into the Tent of Meeting, or you will die. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean.¡¨ (Deuteronomy 10:9-10) From this we can see that those who get close to and serve God must not only be clean but especially be cautious, following God¡¦s word in service and not being perfunctory, lest we incur God¡¦s punishment.

Likewise, King Saul did not follow God¡¦s commands totally. After defeating the Amalekites, he cherished and kept the best cattle and sheep and other good things, and spared the Amalekite king. He even said, ¡§I have carried out the Lord¡¦s instructions.¡¨ (1 Samuel 15:13) Later he tried to put up a crafty defense for himself, shifting the responsibility onto the people, and using the excuse that the best cattle and sheep were kept as offerings to God. (1 Samuel 15:15) In the end, God forsook King Saul, because the Lord delights in man heeding and obeying His commands more than man making burnt and peace offerings to Him. (1 Samuel 15:22) The server must keep the word of God, and obeying it completely is paramount. It is more important than offering money or talent to God.

I sincerely encourage everyone to have the conviction to obey the word of God, and also seek Him with all your heart, to become one blessed by God. (Psalm 119:2)

By: Daniel To