Three things God doesn’t like

John Hatcher is pastor of Outreach International Center, 1091 South Jeff Davis Drive, Fayetteville, Georgia 30215. 770-719-0303

By John Hatcher
Contributing Writer

Killjoy! That’s what a whole lot of folks think about God. No fun with God. Look at all those commandments, rules, and other stuff. You can’t turn around without doing something wrong. People couldn’t be any more wrong. God is not against fun. In fact, he is in favor of fun and its lasting version called joy.

You see, God loves you and me. Thank God! He loves us with an everlasting love. That means he never stops loving us regardless whose company we keep, where we hang out, or what we use our tongue for — cursing or blessing. He loves. The most famous verse in the Bible, John 3:16, is all about God’s love: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”

Please get a hold of what John 3:16 says. God loves the whole world. That includes Osama bin Laden. Those Indonesian governmental officials who want our military out of their country, God loves. He loves the vilest sinner, most violent rapist, and the busiest drug trafficker.

But...(remember your English grammar). “But” is a conjunction that indicates a change of thought. God loves us, but the first Psalm says there are three things God does not like. Remember when Bush ’41 let it be known he didn’t like broccoli. He gave orders that broccoli was not to be served at the White House and especially on Air Force One. He didn’t like that particular vegetable. He was the President and he got his way.

Well, God is God and what he likes and dislikes should be seriously important to those of us who say we believe in him. God is Chief Executive Officer of the world. He is commander and chief of our lives. He, not Frank Sinatra (rest his soul) is chairman of the board of the cosmos.

Psalm One says God does not like it when we walk in the counsel of wicked people. Where you hang out is usually the place you receive your advice and consent. The porn shops counsel you to buy more and more of their filth. The saloon counsels you to drink another martini. What generally happens is to our detriment. The TV news report typically goes something like this: “Joe Smo was found dead in such and such pond. He was last seen leaving a bar at 1 a.m.”

God loves you and doesn’t want you hanging onto the advice of people whose counsel is suspect. A college student tells me that in a certain dorm room on his hallway at UGA, the guys regularly smoke pot. Hey fellow, don’t go in that room. You are going to get the wrong counsel. God wants better for you. Go for the room where the guys have a Bible study and pray.

The second thing that Psalm One says God does not like is when we limit our vision, dreams, and purposes to a dead-end street: “Blessed is the man...who does not stand in the path of sinners.” I guarantee you that a pathway well trod by sinners is a pathway going nowhere. Robert Frost, former poet laureate of the United States, wrote a poem about two roads that diverged in the woods and that he took the one less traveled, making all the difference since. To stand in the path of sinners is to limit your future and paralyze your possibilities.

The third thing God does not like is when we or anyone snubs or disses God. Many of us when we were sophomores in college thought we knew more than most anyone else. Certainly we knew more than our parents and teachers and some of us thought we knew more than God. Ever understand what sophomore literally means? The first part of the word, “soph,” is where we get our word sophisticated. The last part of the word, “more,” is where our word for moron comes. So, sophomore means “sophisticated moron.” God does not like when you hang around people who think they know more than God.

Why? Because it’s catching. If you hang around people like that, you gradually get the picture of a God who is not big enough to handle your problems and calm your anxiety. Wrong. God is bigger than any problem you have ever faced or will ever face. He is larger then your most vexing frustration or your most difficult relationship. And God wants you to bring all that crud to him and leave it with him. He can handle it. But if you buy into the impression that God is limited from people who denigrate God, you won’t take your problems to him.

God wants you to know that he is there for you. He wants you to bring your problems, anxieties, and perplexing situations to him. Why? Because Jesus can fix anything! Trust, try and prove him.