Police Devotion 8-9-2016
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me:” (Hosea 4:6).
Without a doubt, many people have been saved from choking to death by someone using the Heimlich maneuver. As a cop, you may have used the Heimlich or taken some other action to save a life, or you know another cop who did. Isn’t it great that a life was saved! What if you were at a picnic, though, and someone started choking, but no one came forward who knew the Heimlich? The victim would grab his throat, his eyes would bulge, and he’d turn an ugly color. He would fall down, gasping for air. Someone might call 911, but he might die before help arrived. It could be said that he was destroyed for lack of knowledge because no one came forward who knew the Heimlich maneuver.
Our verse also talks about people being destroyed for lack of knowledge. It says that they’re destroyed for lack of knowledge of the true God. God gave us the Bible to give us knowledge about Him: how to worship, serve, and fellowship with Him. One important reason for church is for people to hear God’s Word preached and learn how to apply it to their personal lives. Yet, if a so-called “minister” won’t preach God’s Word to his congregation, they risk being “destroyed for lack of knowledge.”
Hosea the prophet wrote this book at a time when Israel didn’t want to obey God or hear His Word. They wanted to enjoy their sin like the heathen around them. They went through religious motions, but as Mark 7:6 says, “This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.” God called out the priest in Hosea 4:6—the “clergyman”—because he didn’t preach God’s Word to people as he should have: “thou hast rejected knowledge.” The clergyman in this verse was rejecting God and wasn’t doing his job of sharing God’s Word and the knowledge of God, so God was rejecting him.
As a cop, you often see how people are damaged, enslaved, and destroyed by sin. The problem is not a lack of religion. There’s plenty of that. The problem is a lack of God’s Word. People need God’s Word. We need God’s Word preached by men who are focused on pleasing God, not pleasing people. People need to hear how to repent and turn to Christ to be saved. Once they’ve received Christ, they need strong Bible preaching and teaching to learn more and grow as Christians.
For all these reasons, believers in Christ need to share God’s Word with others: to tell people how to receive Jesus as Saviour and how to live for Him. God’s Word is called “the sword of the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17). It’s “quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword,” (Hebrews 4:12). God uses it to perform miracles in people’s hearts and lives. That’s why those who know Jesus as Saviour need to share God’s Word with others, so they won’t be eternally “destroyed for lack of knowledge.”
What if one of the people at the above picnic walked up to you as the ambulance drove away with the choking victim and told you that he knew the Heimlich maneuver? You’d probably turn to him and ask angrily, “Well, if you knew it, WHY DIDN’T YOU USE IT?” If you’re saved, you know something far more important than the Heimlich maneuver. You know how people can be forgiven and saved for eternity. Ask the Lord to guide and help you to share Christ with people, so they won’t be “destroyed for lack of knowledge.” If you haven’t seen in the Bible how to receive Jesus as Saviour, please click “Helpful Links” on the top menu and then “How Do I Go to Heaven?” on the drop down menu.
Brian Miller 8/9/2016
Cleveland Baptist Church | 4431 Tiedeman Road, Brooklyn, Ohio 44144 | 216.671.2822