“In spite of all this, they still sinned;
despite his wonders, they did not believe.”
– Psalm 78:32
The Israelites saw the mighty work of God firsthand. They saw Him in a cloud, heard Him speak out loud, and witnessed His wrath for sin. Yet they sinned and struggled with real faith. They didn’t yield to Him as Lord of their lives, clinging stubbornly to their demands, agendas, preferences, and priorities.
Their experience in the wilderness is a vivid reminder that it isn’t enough to know a lot about God and the Bible. James reminds us that demons know a lot about God and the Bible! The Israelites had more firsthand, eyewitness knowledge about God than most of us will ever have in this world, yet they consistently failed and suffered for that failure.
Seeing extraordinary miracles isn’t a guarantee we’ll get things right. They might excite us about God for awhile but they don’t sustain us. Instead, we must submit to God in order to experience His blessing and salvation. We must choose daily to submit to God, to pursue Him, to walk in step behind Him. We must diligently seek Him in prayer, study, meditation, and worship. We must truly make Jesus the Lord of our lives, with absolute authority over every aspect of them. We must submit our work and our leisure, our family and our friends, our health and our wealth. All our time, talent, and treasure must be managed as a gift from God to be used for God.
If we simply profess to love Jesus and enjoy weekend worship without letting God rule every aspect of our heart, mind, and life we aren’t different than the Israelites. Like them, we’ll continue to struggle with sin and idolatry. Like them, we’ll still miss out on the full blessing and joy of a life lived in God’s will. Have you truly submitted to God?