““Son of man, speak with the elders of Israel and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: Are you coming to inquire of me? As I live, I will not let you inquire of me. This is the declaration of the Lord God.’ I also said to them, “Throw away, each of you, the abhorrent things that you prize, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” “‘But they rebelled against me and were unwilling to listen to me. None of them threw away the abhorrent things that they prized, and they did not abandon the idols of Egypt. So I considered pouring out my wrath on them, exhausting my anger against them within the land of Egypt. Then I gave them my statutes and explained my ordinances to them — the person who does them will live by them. “‘But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not follow my statutes and they rejected my ordinances — the person who does them will live by them. They also completely profaned my Sabbaths. So I considered pouring out my wrath on them in the wilderness to put an end to them.” Ezekiel 20:3, 7-8, 11, 13 CSB https://bible.com/bible/1713/ezk.20.3-13.CSB

How long will we rebel against the Lord? When times are tough, we seek God for help, but why should He help us? We have disobeyed His commands, ignored the doing of His will, and worshipped instead our pleasures and personal pursuits, all of which lead us to destruction and keep us from the abundant life God wills for us to have. Abundant life, true life, eternal life of joy, peace, love, and perfect health, is found in Jesus alone, Who gives us all these things now and fully in the coming age. Yet we must choose to obey Him. His commands are not burdensome to us but simple, logical, and necessary for demonstrating to God, men, and demons that Jesus is our Lord and Savior. What does He command? That we love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We are to love God more than anyone or anything. If we do, our time and treasure will demonstrate this love just like we show such love to our spouse and continue with our children. We are to love our neighbor as ourselves. Again, this is reflected in our time and our goals with our neighbor. The chief objective of all human relationships is reconciliation with God, which is demonstrated by obedience to everything Jesus has commanded. Therefore, we pursue all people to help them love God first and most by serving, giving, and sharing with them so they feel, see, and hear Jesus from us and become one of us. Our failure to love God most and pursue people for Jesus is why we and our world are in chaos. The solution is simple, love God and obey His commands, for they are our life, now and forever.