Thursday, November 15, 2007

Ignorance Is No Bliss

Since early tomorrow morning I will be on a flight to Ohio, returning sometime Monday afternoon, I've decided to post one more article before I leave. A new teaching on the church of Thyatira should also be up on the Hand of Help website, before the weekend.

As far as I know, I have two allergies. I am highly allergic to bee stings, and aspirin. I found out I was allergic to aspirin after being stung by a bee, and my mother gave me two little white pills to help with the swelling and the pain.
I was in Romania at the time, the beginning of summer, looking forward to a few days of soccer and apple picking, when out of nowhere, a bee got inside my sunglasses, and after growing annoyed at my flailing about, the bee stung me center mass, right on the bridge of my nose. Thirty or so minutes later, my face looked like an over inflated balloon and the pain made my eyes water. As mothers the world over are often overprotective of their offspring, my mother quickly talked me into swallowing the pills she had handed me, saying they were anti inflammatory, and I would be right as rain as soon as they got into my system. The pills she had given me were aspirins, and the swelling got worse. I could barely breathe and now my tongue had swollen, keeping pace with the rest of my face.
It's not that the practice of medicine has evolved much since the revolution in Romania, but the early 1990's was something few can imagine unless they've lived through it, medically speaking. The prevailing thought of the time, was that it was better to just die, than get sick, than to be left at the mercy of doctors, because in the end you would die anyway, it would just take longer and be more painful.
So here I was, a kid who had spent the last six years in the bosom of America, in a third world country, with a constricted esophagus, a swelled head, and not much else.
My mother got scared when she saw I was getting worse, called a doctor, and after paying him his fee upfront, she brought him into my bedroom, where I was laying on the bed taking shallow gasps of air into my lungs.
The man looked at me for a full ten seconds, and said, 'try not to breathe so deep.'
I had a plethora of great comeback lines floating around in my head, like 'did you learn that in medical school or in a gulag?' or, 'great bedside manner, maybe you should just sit on my chest and get it over with', but my tongue was too swollen and I couldn't talk. I tried giving him a dirty look, but I couldn't arch my eyebrows, so I just lay there, while he explained to my mother that he didn't have the medicine I needed, but if she would give him more money he could probably have it within a week.
That day I learned an important, if somewhat painful lesson. Just because we are ignorant of something, it does not mean we will be spared the after effects. Just because I wasn't aware of my allergy to aspirin, it doesn't mean I didn't suffer because I took them. I lay in bed for three days, gasping the hours away, until the swelling started to subside, and I could speak again.
Ignorance is no bliss, in fact ignorance often kills, and if this is true of the physical realm, it is also true of the spiritual realm.
This is the reason I encourage those with whom I come in contact with, and those to whom I minister to feed themselves, to get into the Word, to read, to pray, to meditate, and to know the will of God. Ignorance is no excuse for believing a lie, and some who find comfort in ignorance will have to endure the eternal consequences thereof. The Bible warns us, it admonishes us, it exhorts and instructs us, within its pages we find the answer to every burning question, as well as sure and uncompromising direction. If some are still ignorant, it is because they have chosen it, not because God didn't explain it well enough, or because He omitted something necessary to our spiritual growth. If we hope to be the men and women God expects us to be, than we must do everything that God tells us to do. It's that simple.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea Jr.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Brother Michael,

You're right. Ignorance will be no excuse on that day when everything is laid bare before the eyes of whom we have to give an account.

Paul writes in Romans 1:19-22, "Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,..."

Surely God has given us everything we need for life and godliness and those who reject his promises will suffer the consequences accordingly. 2 Peter 1:2-4 says, " Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."

Amen!

Brother Andrew

Anonymous said...

claiming to know and then turning out to be ignorant should reap far worse consequences then just being "plain ignorant", -both miss the mark when it comes to eternal life and the failure to attain it. so one recieves few blows while the other many blows, but lost is still lost. not much bliss too be found outside the walls in the outer darkness!
--p.g.--

Michael Boldea Jr. said...

Dear Brother Andrew,
Some years ago I did a study on the first chapter of Romans, and it amazed me how many paralels can be drawn between the condition of the current church, and the chastening of Paul to the church of Rome.
One thing is certain, without holiness, no man will see the Lord.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea Jr.

Bonny said...

Yes, the Word of the Lord makes wise the simple. The Lord's revelation of Himself in all His vast creation, His written words to us, and the sheer 'foolishness' and simplicity of the Gospel make Truth within everyone's reach. We are without excuse for remaining ignorant. If we really want Truth, we will find it. Thanks Michael.

Unknown said...

Thank you! This blog and the comments are such a blessing. It is so refreshing to see that one is not alone and that there IS a remnant. Thanks for helping to connect the Body.

Kirsten Miller

Elm Street Chapel said...

Michael,
sorry you had to learn the hard way of your allergies. Life doesn't always seem fair. If it was a schoolmaster to prepare us for what is ahead, God in His merciful wisdom, giving us discipline, and we learn the lesson, we are the wiser.

Just this morning I was asked
about Ezekiel and the dry bones. The person asking was sincere. The question was, are the dead bones actually dead people? And will they live again a natural life? After all when Jesus arose many people came out of their graves with Him, and were seen by many. This person was thinking just how merciful God was to give these people a second chance at life. After all they are the apple of God's eye. God can do anything, right? I'm sure in one way the thought gave comfort for a second chance to some, may spill over to a second chance for all, God is love, right?

I gave my response to the contrary but thought, how can anyone get that? I looked it up and read it again. If you didn't know God in truth and were just reading I could see how a person could be confused. Though they would have to want to believe the deception after hearing truth.

This I believe, is the painful lesson you learned. When we presuppose the level of the mercy of God verses the truth of God. We paid the doctor but the cure was not a quick fix, a further price was to be paid, in one way or another.

People who rely on the mercy of God without truth are in for a painful lesson.

John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

L,J,P&HG
Dave

James Kinsman said...

Brother Andrew I am sorry I did not email you.


Ignorance is no excuse now; aside from the day of judgment, everything is laid bare and we must give an account here because tomorrow is too late