The Good Life is Listening to The Lord and Walking with Him
by Mihran Kulhanjian
My dear Friends,
The new year is soon upon us. Let's all listen to the Lord. Obey his word and find rest for your soul. Jesus said: "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" [ Matthew 11:29].
In Jeremiah 6:16-19, the LORD says "ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it." Will you walk with God this year and forever?
Thus says the Lord:
“Stand in the ways and see,
And ask for the old paths, where the good way is,
And walk in it;
Then you will find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
17 Also, I set watchmen over you, saying,
‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’
But they said, ‘We will not listen.’
18 Therefore hear, you nations,
And know, O congregation, what is among them.
19 Hear, O earth!
Behold, I will certainly bring calamity on this people—
The fruit of their thoughts,
Because they have not heeded My words
Nor My law, but rejected it.
The Lord says the good way is in the old paths; and walk in them. Listen and follow God's word, for it is the right way to live. But Judah [Israel] did not listen. “Remember the Law of Moses, My servant,
Which I commanded him in Horeb [Sinai] for all Israel, With the statutes and judgments" [Malachi 4:4]. God has given us complete instruction for salvation. All we have to do is follow the old path that He have revealed to us. Listen to the word of God. Obey His word because it is the good path to a good life and complete salvation. His word is the right way. God does not change. "The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of God stands forever" [Isaiah 40:8]. Do not fall for seeking new paths. The old path endures forever to be right. The old path leads to salvation.
Again, how many times must the Lord warn the people He has brought out of bondage. Turning back to Deuteronomy 32:6-7, remember the days of old and consider the old paths, the old ways:
Do you thus deal with the Lord,
O foolish and unwise people?
Is He not your Father, who bought you?
Has He not made you and established you?
When all was right in the land
“Remember the days of old,
Consider the years of many generations.
Ask your father, and he will show you;
Your elders, and they will tell you
The Lord set watchmen [preachers and prophets] over you. But Judah and Israel will not listen. They will not be faithful to the Lord. Will you likewise fall away? Will you transgress His word? Will you not be faithful to the Lord, the King of Kings who shed His blood and died so that you might know the Lord and live? What have you become? Are you a pack of ungrateful, pride-driven, arrogant heathens of the devil, doing his work? Do you not fear God?
Heed these words of God:
‘Now see that I, even I, am He,
And there is no God besides Me;
I kill and I make alive;
I wound and I heal;
Nor is there any who can deliver from My hand.
40 For I raise My hand to heaven,
And say, “As I live forever, [Deuteronomy 32: 39-40].
In verse 19, the Lord is saying to us plainly, when we reject the word of God there are consequences. What are the consequences? God tells you: "I will certainly bring calamity." The unrighteous bring evil unto themselves, and their evil thoughts are manifested. This is the truth. Why do you continually transgress the word of God? All you are doing is building up God's wrath upon you; the evil you have brought down on yourself by your unrighteous living and turning away from the word of God. Look at the direction, the lawlessness and filth permeating in American culture and the western world. The nuclear family is under great pressure of complete destruction. Turn from your perverted ways. Why must you rebel against God, the creator of all.
Repent! Listen to the Lord. Obey Him and receive His blessings. He promises you peace, if peace is what you want. He promises you love. Is it love you want? He welcomes you into His family. Is it a family you want? Seek the Lord and He will reveal Himself to you. Love Him. Abide in Him. Follow Him and your life will never be the same. He will fill you with new desires. He will receive you as you are, but He will not leave you the way you are because you will become a child of God, and a child of God is formed and molded into a mature Son or daughter of God with diligence and faithfulness, with traits and character of the Father, if this is your true desire. And I hope it is. Welcome the Spirit of God to live in you, and He will give you power, love, a sound mind [discernment, clear thought] and wisdom if you ask for it. He does not give you a spirit of fear [2 Timothy 1:7]. And let us always in faith take the yoke of Jesus upon us, to learn from Him, for He is gentle and humble in heart and we will find rest for our souls in Him.