Christian Living

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Consequences of Consent

For I will pour out their wickedness upon them [and not on their false teachers only, for the people could not have been deceived except by their own consent]. –Jeremiah 14:16 (AMP) Part 2

Today’s Scripture, was the Words of the Lord to the Prophet Jeremiah regarding the false prophets prophesying lies in His name. But my focus over the years has been drawn to the second half of the verse in Jeremiah 14:16. God was not absolving the people of their responsibility in their response to what they had heard. As a matter of fact, they were about to receive the consequences of consent.

The Church, that is supposed to be set apart from the world, isn’t looking so different today. Lawsuits among church leaders over congregational rights, divorce, adultery, drugs, pornography inside of the church walls makes the headlines as often as the politician doing the same things.

Hollywood has nothing on the church! The dramas, music and productions will definitely give them a run for their money, right? And really, how many people are shocked when our church leaders are ending up on the same rag magazines that the rest of the world are?

How did we end up here? What happened? Where did these leaders get the authority and the following of the masses that they have? From the people who wanted to believe: deceived by their own consent.
2 Timothy 4:3 states:

3For the time is coming when [people] will not tolerate (endure) sound and wholesome instruction, but, having ears itching [for something pleasing and gratifying], they will gather to themselves one teacher after another to a considerable number, chosen to satisfy their own liking and to foster the errors they hold

If you read Jeremiah, you will find that leading up to this point, the people did not want to hear what God was saying to them. They did not want to hear that there were going to be consequences of consent. They were gathering the false prophets who would prophesy peace, in the Lords name.
Now let’s take a stroll even further back. In Genesis 3:13, Eve is faced with answering directly to God:

13And the Lord God said to the woman, What is this you have done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled (cheated, outwitted, and deceived) me, and I ate.

Human nature at its finest, isn’t it? “It’s not my fault”, “Well, they did it first” and “I couldn’t help it”. Do any of these statements sound familiar? Adam even dared to point the finger at God here:

12And the man said, The woman whom You gave to be with me--she gave me [fruit] from the tree, and I ate. – Genesis 3:12

Adam pointed out that God had given Him Eve and Eve blamed the serpent. You know what we often miss in this whole scenario though? The serpent offered no excuse. The serpent had accomplished, momentarily, what it was attempting to do. Adam and Eve, and therefore all mankind, would suffer the consequence of consent.

It is no different today in things of the Spirit than it was then! Listen to what Solomon said:
9The thing that has been--it is what will be again, and that which has been done is that which will be done again; and there is nothing new under the sun. – Ecclesiastes 1:9

Mind you technology has made life faster, not necessarily better. God walked with Adam and Eve, Jesus walked with the disciples and the Holy Spirit dwells in us. God will never leave or forsake us is oftentimes used as an inspirational quote in Christian circles. Hebrews 13:5, which references back to Joshua 1:5, is one of the popular choices to support this statement:

5Let your character or moral disposition be free from love of money [including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions] and be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you have]; for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]

The problem lies not in the promise of God, because He is faithful, just and true. It lies within each of us who want to proclaim the promises without looking at the conditions.

Contrary to what is popular among sermons in the pulpit, if you actually dig into the Word of God for yourself, you will find that there are conditions to the promises. What? God’s promises are conditional? Yes. Don’t take my word for it, ever. Read it for yourself.

So many proclaimed people of God from the beginning even until now act like spoiled rotten children. I know people who will say, “Well, if God can’t just accept me the way I am than He’s not worth serving”.

Let’s examine that for a moment. You expect God to love you, no matter what. He does, He understands we are but flesh, Psalm 103:14, that’s why He sent His only Son. But you also expect that in your “proclaimed” devotion and love for God that you shouldn’t have to change anything to meet His expectations.

How does that work? I expect my children to be obedient. I have rules and guidelines for a reason. Those rules and guidelines not only keep them safe, but teach them self-control. All of this is done because I love them. If they do not obey, there are consequences.

God loves us and has given everything to and for us. If you take a moment and really ponder who you can blame, for where you are, it starts with your choices. True change in your circumstances will come when your choices change. Only then will you be free from the “Consequences of Consent”.

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