“Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him” (1 Samuel 16:14).

This is one of the most frightening verses in the Bible.

The context for this verse is God’s rejection of Saul as the king of Israel due to Saul’s rejection of God’s command and Saul’s disobedience.

The frightening part of this verse is that there is a threshold to God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness. You see, I just assume that God will always be forgiving, merciful, and patient with me. But what this verse tells us is that there came a point in Saul’s life where God’s patience and grace toward Saul came to an end. When God’s patience and grace toward Saul came to an end, God’s presence left Saul. When God’s presence left Saul, Saul was tormented by an evil spirit.

God’s presence is God’s favor. God’s presence is shalom. God’s presence is everything!

I don’t know the exact point of the threshold for God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness. What I do know is that there comes a point when God will absolutely honor our decision regarding God. God will honor our reception of God and his promises, and God will honor our rejection of his plans.

The threshold for God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness is not a one time rejection of God’s will and a one time act of disobedience. On the other hand, should we on an on-going basis reject God’s offer of salvation and grace in this lifetime God will absolutely honor that desire on the day of judgment.

There is a limit to God’s grace. Once that limit is reached, there is judgment and a fearful expectation of God’s wrath.

The safest bet, the wisest thing to do is to receive God’s grace and plan of salvation right now when you have the opportunity.

Secondly, if you are wrestling with and are bothered by the fact that you struggle with obedience to God’s will, you need not worry about reaching God’s threshold of mercy. The fact that you are bothered and are wrestling with obeying God is a sign that God is at work in you.

If you are content with the fact that you continue to reject God’s will, if you are perfectly fine with the reality that you are disobedient, be careful. Repent and get right with God.

Finally, if you haven’t ever received God’s plan of salvation through Jesus Christ, do so right now.

“So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, ‘Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city!’ But his sons-in-law thought he was joking” (Genesis 19:14).

The context for the verse of the day is God’s judgment against Sodom and Gomorrah. Because of the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah, God decides to utterly destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. But before doing so, God sends two angels to warn Lot about the impending doom and judgment so they and their loved ones can escape God’s wrath and judgment. After hearing that God will destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot goes to his sons-in-law to warn them of the impending destruction.

Lot declares the news that his sons-in-law need to hear: “Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city!” That message is clear and true.

However, what was fuzzy is Lot. Lot lived a life in such a way that his sons-in-law could not take him seriously. They thought he was joking. They thought he was a joke.

How could it be that someone is sharing news of the utmost matter, a matter of life and death, but because of the messenger, both the message and the messenger are thought to be a joke?

If God were to entrust you with a message of the utmost matter – a matter of eternal destinies of every human being – would people take your word seriously? Would they respond to save themselves and their families from the impending doom?

How we live our daily lives matter. Either our lives speak of how amazing God’s grace, love, justice, and mercy are, or our lives deny God.

The truth of the matter is, we do have a message of the utmost importance to share with our world. Jesus is coming again as the King, Judge, and Warrior. When Jesus comes again, unless people have received God’s gift of salvation through Jesus, what awaits all people is God’s wrath, judgment, and damnation. But all of this is totally avoidable because God has already made a way in and through Jesus for us to be saved.

How we live our lives bears witness and testimony to this reality or it discredits the message.

Are our lives a joke to others? Or does our life bear witness and testimony to the message about salvation in Jesus?

“And Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching…Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching'” (John 21:23,24).

Some things are so clear it doesn’t need any explanation. Like the verses of the day for today. There is no mistaking or misunderstanding the meaning of the verses.

But here’s the problem.

Me. You. And a bunch of ya’ll.

What Jesus taught is crystal clear. If you love Jesus, you obey Jesus’s teaching.

Then how come I don’t. Well, not consistently. Not all the time. And this is the case with you too. So, what are we supposed to do with something like this?

First, remember grace. God knows we are repeat sinners. God knows we are imperfect. God knows that we are going to mess up. This does not excuse our failures and our sins. It just recognizes reality.

Second, this is an aspiration. This doesn’t mean this isn’t important or that we ought not pursue this aspiration. What this does mean is that this is the heading that we are living our lives. Yes, we are not perfect. We may go astray and drift. But we will always seek to get back on track by pointing our lives, decisions, and choices back to loving Jesus by obeying his teaching. This is our aspiration, our true North, our compass heading.

Third, that we find ourselves at odds and are bothered with our failures in living this is a good thing. This is the process of sanctification – becoming more like Christ. As long as we live in our flesh and in this world, there will be a constant battle within us between God’s will and our flesh. Until Jesus comes back again or until we die, this battle rages on within us. The key to discipleship is not perfection. If our desire to submit to Christ is 50.1% versus 49.9% to do what our flesh desires, the Spirit wins!!!

Keep at it. God will guide through his word. The Spirit will prompt and encourage. And it’s up to disciples to make our desire to obey greater than our desire to please our flesh.

The application for the verse of the day is not seeking perfection, but seeking greater impact and influence over our obedience. So, disciples…Make your submission to the will, direction, and the promptings of the Holy Spirit to the teachings of Christ be greater than your desire to please your flesh.