Choose Ye This Day, God Will Not Be Mocked

“For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels.” – Luke‬ ‭9‬:‭26‬

I find this to be one of the most convicting verses in the bible. Plain and straight forward, there can be no mistaking or fluffing what it’s says. We must live boldly and openly for God. We must be Christians, not in name only, but in action for we know that faith without works is dead. (James 2:17)

God does not speak kindly of those that claim His Name but don’t fully live the life to back it up.  Hypocrisy is probably the single most damaging weapon in the enemies arsenal against the body of Christ. It justifies sin in the minds of others and plants thoughts of fakery, malice agendas, and selfish gain in those that witness it towards the entire body. It tarnishes the Name of Christ and brings hardship and distrust on His true followers. Because of this, scripture is very clear where God stands on the issue of Hypocrisy, it literally disgusts Him.

There are many scriptures through out the Bible that harshly and clearly condemn hypocrisy. One of the most striking can be found in Matthew 23 where Jesus spends the entire chapter unapologetically calling out hypocrites in the religious institutions of that time, saying in verse 33…“Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?” But of all the myriads of verses on this subject perhaps none can be so simple, so clear, and so convicting as this commonly quoted but not fully comprehended verse…

“I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” – Revelation‬ ‭3‬:‭15-16‬

The word translated to “spue” in this verse, in the original Greek was “emeo” which literally means “to vomit” or “to throw up”… In other words, God is saying, “you make Me sick”… Wow, God’s disdain for hypocrisy can’t get any clearer then that.

Let us choose this day to stand firmly and boldly for the sound doctrine of Christ being not ashamed of the gospel, nor living in manners contrary to its teaching. Let us boldly proclaim His good works not only with our words but with our actions, and most importantly with our very lives. Let us declare this day in the face of rising resistance and persecution from the world and even from those claiming to be the church, the words of Jeremiah the Prophet…

“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve The Lord.” -‭Joshua‬ ‭24‬:‭15‬