Dangerous greener pastures!
Verse for Today: Sunday, July 21, 2013
Genesis 12:9 – Then Abram set out and continued towards the south.
We are faced with the challenge
of easy exit to greener pastures of the world when faced with adversity. Even
the pathway to Promise Land posed great challenge to the Israelites as they sojourned
to Canaan from Egypt. The hardships on the way tempted them to think about past
facilities in Egypt. It is important to take possession of the Promise Land and
travel through its length and breadth, but we need to beware of the temptations
that lie across the fence when we face tests of our faith. When tests come
knocking at our doors, the easy way out is to cross over to the ‘greener’ enemy
territory to save our souls. Such easy exits would sound logical and profitable
and make us think that we can always come back when the tests are over. But the
experience of Abram tells us that we can never come out of the enemy territory
without getting hurt. Staying within the boundaries of the Promise Land and be
under the care and control of the Lord is far better than allowing ourselves to
be tempted by looking to the other side of the fences. If great men of God like
Abraham failed the test of faith, it is written for us to learn lessons from
their lives and be forewarned. No matter how difficult our situations are, we
must exercise our faith in the Lord who has called us and stay put in our
faith, commitment, loyalty and allegiance to Him. The seeming advantages in
crossing over to the world for temporary advantages and filthy lucre will
always prove to be spiritually costly and will mar our testimony and life of
faith.
Dear reader, are you looking to
the other side of the fence even while staying in the Promise Land God has led
you to? Do you sometimes feel that breaking some of the basic commandments to
become quickly rich or to escape a spiritual test will be financially or
socially expedient? But today the Word of God tells us that all such journeys
to the world will always be spiritually harmful to you and your descendants.
The world will tempt you to sacrifice a negligent part of your truthfulness,
faith and commitment to the Lord to gain filthy lucre. There is always danger
awaiting you as you get out of the will of God to find solution to the
temporary problem you encounter for temporary gain. When God allows a famine or
a shortage in your life, He will still be with you. He wants you to put your
trust in Him in spite of circumstances. When temptations come knocking at your door, you must ask Jesus to
answer it and say that even in our famines, He will be with us. He will not
forsake us nor leave us alone, but will be with us as we go through the famines
of life or any other problems which come our way. If you are standing at the
edges of His ways, but looking to the other sides of the fence, it might end up
in temptations to step out and go down to the world. The experience of Abraham
is a warning for us to beware and be watchful. Our help comes not from the world,
but form the Lord. Our love for our Lord ought to make us boldly deny the honor
and opportunities the world entices us with. We must put our relentless faith
in our Lord and go through the tests of faith and come out victoriously. We
must fight the good fight of faith and defeat the enemy and his subtle and
deceitful temptations. We have the challenge to put our trust in the Lord who
has called us and believe that in spite of our situations, our Lord will lead
us forward in His will and on His pathway.
Psalms 37:16 – Better the
little that the righteous have than the wealth of the many wicked.
Thought for Today
Temptation zones with warning
lights are for us to beware and keep away from.
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