Yesterday’s devotion was about being friends of God. I noted in that devotion that it is a blessing to be called His friend. We give honor and praise to Him; however, we never want to receive His wrath. Let us think back for a moment to a time when we were young and disobedient, and we found ourselves subjected to the wrath of our parents or grandparents. Their love for us caused them to punish us. Just as with our earthly parents, we are punished by our Heavenly Father when we are disobedient. In 2 Corinthians 5:11, we find these words:

“Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too.”

In his selfless service to the Corinthians, Paul tried not to mislead the people. Consequently, he made this statement because he knew that God must approve his work. Sometimes we preachers must declare, the same as Paul, what God has called him or her to do, but it can be difficult. I would rather have people upset with me than to have God upset with me. I never want the wrath of God to come upon me because I was too weak to do what the Lord told me to do. Romans 1, verses 18 -27, gives us just one example of God’s wrath; He abandons the people because of their sinful ways. I have felt the wrath of people, but I never want to feel the wrath of God for any reason. Prayerfully, none of us ever will.