WITH PRIVILEGES COME RESPONSIBILITY. How comforting it is to know that we are a part of a universal family. We have family members around the globe and throughout the vast universe. As a member of God’s family, we have special privileges along with those privileges comes responsibility. What is our responsibility?
We are living in very challenging and stressful times in which possession, money, and wealth matter to all. However, if not careful, the pursuit of wealth will pull us away from what really matters, which is our relationship with God and one another.
Satan uses the things of this world to tempt and lure us to him. However, the Word of God provides us with the guidance needed to avoid his trap. In the Bible, God has provided us with practical guidance on how to live above the stresses of life, and we are given instructions on how to manage the resources He has given us.
In this series, from a biblical perspective, we will look at how to manage effectively the resources God has given us while prioritizing what really matters.
Review any of our previous lessons @ SabbathSchoolDaily.com.
Also, you can obtain the study guide to these lessons @ Sabbath.School or ssnet.org
Asking For God’s Guidance
Holy Father, as members of your family, you have provided us with all the resources we need, and you have tasked us with certain responsibilities. Help us fulfill our responsibilities and use the resources you have given us wisely.
In Jesus the Name Amen
Yes, we are members of God’s family. Being a member of God’s family comes with benefits. We, as obedient children, who listen and obey God’s voice, enjoy the spiritual blessings and gifts needed in this life. We find in 1 John 5:3 that being in God’s family and obtaining his blessing comes with responsibility. It tells us
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 5:3)
Deuteronomy 6:5 and Matthew 22:37 elaborate on what God expects from his children.
Deuteronomy 6:5
5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. (Deuteronomy 6:5)
Then Jesus in Matthew 22:37 echoes Deuteronomy 6:5
37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37)
Here is the big question: How do we love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind.’ (Matthew 22:37)
What’s interesting is that God does not leave us hanging. His answer is interesting because it is not what most people typically expect and want to do. He says in John 14:15
“if you love Me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15)
Deuteronomy 10:12, 13 offers more clarity on what is meant by 1 John 5:3 and John 14:15
Deuteronomy 10:12, 13 tells us
what should be our proper response to our love relationship with our Father in heaven and His son Jesus Christ. It says:
12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
13 and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good? (Deuteronomy 10:12-13) (Split)
Deuteronomy not only tells us what God expects of us, but it also lets us know that doing so is for our good. It is for our best interest.
Then Micah in Micah 6:8 elaborates, he says:
He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)
Sad to say, many who claim to be members of God’s family, children of God, and a follower of Jesus, believe that keeping God’s commandments, which includes the fourth commandment, related to the sabbath conclude that obedience to the law of God is the same as trying to earn God’s favor by good behavior. These individuals are of the idea that God only wants us to love Him and our neighbor. They do not realize that the commandments give us detailed instructions on how to love God and love our neighbor.
Not to leave us in suspense, God tells us how we show that we love Him and love our neighbor. This love is shown by keeping His commandments. “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments” (1 John 5:3)
Surely when we love God, we will not worship at our convenience or based on a day and time established by traditions and the commandments of men.
Furthermore, when we love our neighbors, we will treat them like family, as expressed in God’s commandments We will not kill, steal, lie, or have an affair with our neighbor’s husband or wife. That would not be love, wouldn’t it?
What’s more, we are told in Deuteronomy 10:13 “and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good?” Keeping God’s commandments are for our good!
Our society today refuses to do what is for our own good. Therefore, we are reaping the benefits, in the form of killing, stealing, lying, cheating, robbing, and any evil that can be imagined.
How would someone who loves God and loves their neighbor go and take out a crowd of people simply because of their race?
How does someone who loves God and loves their neighbor feed their habit of alcohol or drugs at the expense of their health, the welfare of their family, and their neighbors?
For sure, when we love God, we keep His commandments. Here is what Jesus says in Matthew 7:21–27 about hears and doers of God’s word. He expresses that the people who obey God’s words are the same as a wise builder.
Matthew 7:21-27
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:
25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:
27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” (Matthew 7:21-27)
What does the wise builder do? The wise builder does not just speak. He does. The wise builder builds his house on the Solid Rock. The wise builders are hearers and doers. The wise are like the obedient child who receives instructions from their parent and does them.
In contrast, the People who don’t obey God’s words are the same as a foolish builders. The foolish builder builds his house on the sand. What happens to his house? It is destroyed.
Both builders know God’s law. They both receive instructions on how to build their house. One builder obeys the details of the law and follows the instructions, and the other builder does not. Jesus’ instructions are if you love me keep my commandments.
Because the wise builders received God’s instructions and obeyed them his house was protected from the storm. In contrast, the storm destroys the foolish builder and his house.
The point is, that both heard the word one obeyed, and one did not. The decision of both made the difference between life and death.
Hence as obedient children of God, we have a responsibility. God simply ask that we show our love to him by keeping his commandments. Then he says that they are not burdensome, troublesome, or oppressive. Why because they are for our own good.
What are some things that keep us from obeying our Father?
Find out on Day 6: Treasures in Heaven
Watch Past and Present Lessons @ SabbathSchoolDaily.com
