Don't hold God in contempt. Men do not just ignore God’s message, but they resent it. It offends them deeply, and they turn on those who have brought the message to them. People hear them so far and then cut them dead, close the mind. ‘I won’t let that relative talk to me anymore.’ Are we afraid of the consequences?
‘He was wroth.’ The king is now angry – they have provoked him beyond the limit. God is not just peevish. Your life is like a rented house. God gives you this life on lease, but we despise him. One day we will resist him just too far. Will he destroy us instantly? Not necessarily. We may live out our days and then be judged by him. All our goods will be left behind. All that makes us happy will be taken away. Are you a young athlete, and revel in it and in your attainments? They will be taken from you. That home or that small holding which you have lived on for so many years and which has become so familiar to you; you will be carried out and never see again. What a tragedy when God is ready to be so kind to you. How momentous is the cost of disregarding him!