Opposite Day

"she has not obeyed His voice"

Zephaniah 3:2

Remember Opposite Day?  Did you have that when you were a kid?  Someone would announce it, and then you'd have to say the opposite of the truth.  First one to forget, and say something accurate, was the loser.  We'd stand waiting for the school bus, saying "Here it comes" when it wasn't, and then, "It's not coming" when it was.  Weren't we clever fifth-graders?  Then someone would say something like, "Darn it, my shoe is untied," and that person would be the loser for stating a fact.

Might explain why I'm so hyper-analytic now...  Or not.

Okay, well I read a verse the other day that caused me to start thinking about the opposite meaning of the verse.  So I made up an axiom.  I never did that before, but it was kind of exciting!   So my axiom is:  "Bible facts are true, so the opposite of the facts are equally true."  Or how about, "Bible facts are true, ergo the opposite of Bible facts are ipso facto true."  Everything sounds better with a little Latin thrown in...

Let me show you what I mean.  The verse that made me start thinking about this was Zephaniah 3:2  ~ "She has not obeyed His voice, she has not received correction; she has not trusted in the Lord, she has not drawn near to her God."  The "she" in the verse is the city of Jerusalem.  I was very intrigued that the verse started with "she has not obeyed His voice," and then everything that followed was the explanation of that fact.  She has not received correction, she has not trusted the Lord, she has not drawn near to her God.  In other words, by not receiving the correction of the Lord, Jerusalem was disobedient.  Subsequently, not trusting in Him was disobedience, as was not drawing near to Him.

There are a lot of instructions in the Bible.   And to think of them in terms of obedience and disobedience is very thought-provoking.

Psalm 150:1 "Praise the Lord!"

Philippians 4:6 "Be anxious for nothing"

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks"

Exodus 20:12 "Honor your father and your mother"

I think sometimes, when we don't do what He commands, we just feel like we're exercising our free will.  Sort of like when I grab myself a handful of chocolate chips in the middle of the afternoon.  Hey now, don't judge me...

I'd scold my kids for doing that.  But somehow, as an adult, I feel I can justify it.  "Hey ~ I'm a grownup.  I can make my own decisions."  But making our own decisions, if they cause us to not do what He has told us to do, is disobedience.  And all of a sudden, exercising my free will takes on a more somber tone.

~ "You shall love the Lord your God 

with all your heart, 

with all your soul, 

with all your strength, 

and with all your mind, 

and love your neighbor as yourself" ~

Luke 10:27