"He who sins against Me wrongs his own soul; all those who hate Me love death" (Prov.8:36, NKJV).

"No one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Master (Yah'shua/Jesus) does the messianic community (universal church)" (Eph.5:29, NKJV).

Now it is true that sometimes when a part of our body gets ill, that we must apply unpleasant-tasting medicine. When my son broke his arm many years ago, its resetting was more painful than the actual break. In the short-term it appears that the medicine is against us but until the healing is accomplished, we are unable to see the wisdom and love of that medicine or treatment, in spite of its temporarily unpleasant side-effects. Not only, then, does Yah'shua not harm His own but "nourishes and cherishes" us too.

As I write to you today, we are having problems with a pregnant dog who refuses to eat unless we actually feed her every morsel by hand...with our hand acting like a plate! Hormones have made her quirky. Sometimes we have to be persistent otherwise she would starve herself and her unborn puppies, however much she at times resents that persistence, and stoop to indulge her by becoming a human plate! Yah'shua loves us when we are quirky too, doing things for us which He wouldn't ordinarily do when we are in our right minds.

So we see there is a connection between all our various parts and how instinctively we protect every part of our body, just as Yah'shua watches over, loves and protects His Bride - us. But the connectivity with Elohim runs even deeper, even with those who are not saved. The writer of Proverbs, speaking of the Ruach (Spirit), reveals the insanity of sinning and sees it as a kind of self-hate and a contract with death itself. Elsewhere he says:

"The merciful man does good for his own soul, but he who is cruel troubles his own flesh" (Prov.11:17, NKJV).

Those who hate Yahweh are ultimately hating themselves, not because man is God (pantheism) but because we have all our life and living from Him. When we try to enjoy life without Him, it is on borrowed time only, and whilst it may appear that we can do without Him, it is only because of His grace - His undeserved loving-kindness - that we are still able to enjoy the life-force for a while. We are all, after all, mortal. And just as electricity companies serve warning notices to those who refuse to pay their bills, giving them a fixed amount of time to pay up or else have their power cut off, so Yahweh does the same with us. Mistaking a 'Final Noice' demand for payment and continued electricity as 'unlimited, free power' is no different from ignoring Yahweh's Word and thinking that we can get away without responsibility or consequences for its abuse - which calls us to repent and get right with Him - and interpreting that since we are still alive and not being 'struck down', that we don't have to worry about God at all.

Those who thus gamble with death in this way (and that's most people, alas) usually have to have a few painful wake-up calls to bring them to their senses which may involve a close shave with death, some calamity in a relationship, bankruptcy, loss of work, and so on. Thus someone I know who recently narrowly escaped with his life from a plane accident is grateful to be alive. I am certainly glad that he is! I have been praying for him a great deal. What he may not have realised was that Yahweh was trying to get his attention in his very busy and full life. I have had my close-calls myself. It seems we all need waking up.

Our passage of scripture, though, is not aimed at those who discount God's existence but those who actively hate Him, which would probably be most militant atheists even though they claim He doesn't exist. I can think of a number that include public figures - scientists, comedians, philosophers, politicians, and others. To them Yahweh simply says that they have fallen in love with death because they have denied their own life-force which comes from Him and is Him.

We cannot escape God. He pursues us, in love, one way or another, both believer and unbeliever alike:

"If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there" (Ps.139:8, NKJV).

Now I am not advocating that you necessarily run off to some church or messianic assembly. The chances are you would be disappointed in nearly all of them anyway. You can met Yahweh at home or at work. Talk to Him. Ask Him to reveal Himself to you. And if you have a spare moment, you might like to see the movie about Ian MacCormack's amazing encounter. And may Yahweh bless you along the Way.