Since the garden in Eden, God has longed for fellowship with the very people He created (Genesis 3:8). In fact, one of the great reasons God desires for people to learn to communicate with others is so they can, in turn, understand how to better communicate with Him. Communication with God takes place in two major forms. Man communicates with God through prayer. Prayer can take place simply within one’s heart or verbally but can only be accomplished when a man conveys his thoughts or concerns to the Lord. God, on the other hand, communicates with man through the scriptures. Before Eve, communication existed between a man (Adam) and his God. Even in eternity, it appears that the greatest form of communication will exist between God and the redeemed.
The Lord is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14). He calls upon His people to follow Him with an undivided heart. One facet of our calling involves hating evil. Our love for the Lord will naturally breed a hatred for the things of this world. Throughout the psalms, we find statements of hatred from the people of God. They hated “the congregation of evil doers” (Psalm 26:5), “them that regard lying vanities” (Psalm 31:6), “the work of them that turn aside” (Psalm 101:3), “every false way” (Psalm 119:104, 128), “vain thoughts” (Psalm 119:113), and “covetousness” (Proverbs 28:16). God never intended for these truths to be limited to His children in Old Testament times. Just as the Bible commands that we should love the Lord and the brethren, it also commands that we should hate things contrary to the Lord.
