Heb. 13:17

17 Obey [peitho] them that have the rule [hegeomai] over you [humon], and [kai] submit yourselves [hupeiko]: for [gar] they [autos] watch [agrupneo] for [huper] your [humon] souls [psuche], as [hos] they that must give [apodidomi] account [logos], that [hina] they may do [poieo] it [touto] with [meta] joy [chara], and [kai] not [me] with grief [stenazo]: for [gar] that [touto] is unprofitable [alusiteles] for you [humin]. KJV-Interlinear

17 Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you. NASB

Disobedience is the quickest path to ruin for a persons life. In its truest sense, disobedience is rejection of truth, and an attempt to substitute ones own beliefs in its place.

In general, the leaders referred to here are the spiritual leaders (or sources) that provide Bible doctrine to your life. They are not necessarily people, but the content of a legitimate study. I do not consider myself a spiritual leader. I know virtually no one who reads these studies.

Your ultimate ruler over your own spiritual life comes from your own self discipline. You will either make yourself study, or you will not. Your future is in your own hands.

However, not everyone will take the time to prepare a daily study. You probably do not write your own lessons. You probably do not write notes for the material you read. This is not a criticism, but merely a statement of fact. Ninety-nine percent of those who study doctrine, do not prepare their own studies, and that is normal.

But God, knowing that not everyone will prepare their own food, provides cooks. And so cooks, or those who prepare daily lessons, are placed in history, at the appropriate times, and in the appropriate places, so that people who are interested in a Bible study, will have access to study material.

God honors positive volition and provides for it. But remember too, that God also will remove spiritual food when people are negative. If you ever go negative, or have just a so-so attitude toward doctrine, or figure that you do not have to be obedient to Gods mandates, then one day you just might find yourself without Bible doctrine. And then where will you be? Do you even care?

Look around in the world. Terrorists want the system to collapse so they can have their criminal way with everyone. People get upset over who drives forklifts in our nations ports. People are marching in protest over immigrant law changes. Bird flu is hanging out there just over the horizon. Marriage and prayer and patriotism are under attack. Arrogance and self righteousness is gaining ground around the world. What kind of future do you expect might be coming.

And this is all on the national and international scene. What of your personal life. Only you can look in the mirror and answer that one.

This is the devils world and trouble is always just around the corner. Evil is under condemnation and so it will be relentless in its efforts to save itself. The only defense against it all is spiritual growth. Spiritual growth provides knowledge, understanding, savvy, and wisdom.

So, God provides the cooks of Bible doctrine. You either support them or you don t. You either discipline yourself to study daily, or you don t. Regardless of your attitude, there will be repercussions. You cannot insulate yourself against life and the repercussions of your decisions.

For you and for me, and for everyone, there is no excuse. The meal is always out there on Gods dinner table. All you have to do is sit down and eat. But then look at the world and it should be obvious that most folks won t even make that effort. The results?

Well, the result is that everyone of us will face Christ. There will be a Come to Jesus meeting for us all, and for those who ignored Him in their life, His first question will be, Why didn t you eat at my table?

Some won t show up to eat at all. Some will come and go from the table. Some will nibble. Some will pick and choose what they want to eat. Some will bring their own foods. And very few, will sit down at the table and remain there.

The Bible constantly speaks of reward or profit. You receive reward or profit when you do the right things, when you invest wisely. And when you do not do the right things and when you do not invest wisely, then there is no reward, there is no profit. And that reward or profit here is a spiritual one and an eternal one. It is the greatest prize that will ever exist in all of history.

For those who ignore their teachers, their cooks, the provision of spiritual foods made available to them, there will be grief. Grief is not a sin, but a disappointment in not receiving a reward due to a poorly lived life.

For those who live in accordance with Gods mandates, for those who do not play games with their spiritual lives, for those who separate themselves from the attitudes of the world, for those who advance to spiritual maturity, there will be great reward. The Bible describes it as exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond all that we can think or ask.

Abundantly means, more than a person can use in an infinite number of lifetimes.

Beyond what you can think of ask, means that God has far more than any request you can come up with or even imagine. That is the vastness of Gods reward.

If you go back to review our study in the book of Hebrews, then you may come to understand just what it has been teaching.

We have something in Christ, far better than anything that this world has to offer. It is so far better that we can t even begin to imagine the possibilities.

If you can number the stars, then perhaps you could imagine. But with each improvement in telescope technology, we learn that the universe is larger and larger than anyone can imagine. No one even knows where the edge of it is. Perhaps that is because there is no outer edge. And all of these theories of how the universe got started are just empty big bangs of thought. Which is exactly what they are empty thoughts.

Don t turn your own mind into the same emptiness by ignoring God, His Word, or by trying to invent your own truth for life.

If one day you woke up and discovered that you had won the trillion dollar lottery, wouldn t that make you ecstatic? If you are normal, then suffice to say, you will be dancing and singing the song.

If one day you woke up and discovered that you had lost your business, your job, your home, your family, all that you ever had, then how would you feel?

Extremes? Yes, but then the spiritual life verses the life of this world are mutually exclusive. You cannot have both. Gods demands are inflexible. If you approach the mountain (Sinai) and even touch it, you will die. That is an extreme. If you wish to approach God, then you have to leave the camp (do you even remember what this sentence means?). Another extreme.

God gives us fair warning. Obey, and live and profit. Disobey, and die and lose. That choice is always in your hands.

The Bible is not here to entertain you. You get that from television or the movies and such. The Bible is a life long commitment and from that there is no compromise, no alternative.

Now is the time to post a prayer.