Sometimes I find myself in a place of being stiff-necked; knowing the will of God and trying to tweak His will to conform to my desires. Our ungodly desires most often come as a result of lust. Lust leads to sin which ultimately leads to (spiritual) death. It’s no news that God knows the way. Actually, He is the Way. Still, the rebellious nature of man’s flesh will always want to chart his own course. The path of God leads us to our expected end. Our ways only leads us to a dead end.
STIFF-NECKED
stif’-nekt (qesheh `oreph, literally, “hard of neck”):
As it is figuratively used, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, the word means “stubborn,” “untractable,” “not to be led.” The derivation of the idea was entirely familiar to the Jews, with whom the ox was the most useful and common of domestic animals. It was especially used for such agricultural purposes as harrowing and plowing (Judges 14:18; 1 Corinthians 9:9).
The plow was usually drawn by two oxen. As the plowman required but one hand to guide the plow, he carried in the other an “ox-goad.” This was a light pole, shod with an iron spike. With this he would prick the oxen upon the hind legs to increase their speed, and upon the neck to turn, or to keep a straight course when deviating. If an ox was hard to control or stubborn, it was “hard of neck,” or stiff-necked. Hence, the figure was used in the Scriptures to express the stubborn, untractable spirit of a people not responsive to the guiding of their God. (Exodus 32:9; 33:3; Deuteronomy 9:6; 2 Chronicles 36:13; Jeremiah 17:23, etc.)
Source: Bible Dictionary
The stiff-necked Christian claims he knows and loves God. Still, regarding God’s foundation and standards, this Child of God is very unstable. He possesses some form of godliness. He serves God as long as it is convenient. “God will understand” is his slogan. He resists nudges from the Holy Spirit. He is blind to the future consequences of resisting God’s leading. Rather than depend on God’s leading, the stiff-necked Christian seeks to satisfy his supposed needs. Rather than serve God, he seeks to be served by God. “God do this. God do that” is his plea. Once his needs are met, it’ll be difficult to find him. Take the Israelites for example, they are great examples of stiff-necked children of God. For many generations, when they needed divine intervention, they sought God with all their heart, but when their needs got met, it was only a matter of time before the Israelites turned their God-given blessings into their gods. This grieved God in no small measure.
In today’s world, there are a lot of stiff necks, the ones who find it too tasking/inconvenient to be led by God, the ones whom only challenges and storms of life draw them closer to God. They regard God as their provider, but their awe-inspiring reverence and devotion to Him is seldom a reality. A stiff-necked Christian always ends up as the prey of the enemy. Consider the Israelites who were stripped off of dignity because they often disobeyed God. It is sad to be made in the image of God, yet live like self centered scavengers and die like mere animals. The cost of being heady and hard to lead is very expensive. Obstinacy will make one end up a scapegoat and a prey in the hands of the enemy. It makes us susceptible to all sorts of life’s adversities.
To avoid being stiff-necked, it is necessary to die to self, daily. Continually. For us to reach our expected end, it is only wise to yield to God. Nevertheless, guess what? Without God’s intervention, we lack the ability to yield to Him. We can do nothing except God gives us grace to.The prayer of King David in Psalm 51:10 is one prayer that is overly useful even to us today.
“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”
When we have clean hearts and right spirits, heeding to God’s instructions become a delight to our souls. Let our prayers be sincere like David’s. Let’s ask God to create in us clean hearts and right spirits; hearts that long for a touch from God. As often as we heartily say the above prayer, there’ll be noticeable positive changes in our hearts; a craving to do God’s will. When this happens, we get into action. We delightfully God’s will, which invariably keeps us in the path of life, the path where there is fullness of joy and pleasures forever more. (Psalms 16:11)
So friend, can we practice what we just read? As I type, I’m reading this, obviously.This message speaks to me in no small measure. I hope it speaks to you too. Concerning the things God has laid in your heart for you to do, or to refrain from, which and which do you find yourself shrugging your shoulders to? It’s time to let go. It’s time to say that prayer of King David, heartily. I see God’s beautiful pans for your life coming to pass in Jesus’s perfect Name. Amen.
I look forward to hearing your testimonies. Feel free to leave your comments in the section below, and share with this timely message with people in your sphere. Keep living in the center of God’s will. Till I write to you next time.
With Selfless Love,
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