Deuteronomy 13:1-18
Monday, 04 December 2023
“Serve only the LORD your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice and cling to him.” Deuteronomy 13:4
Through the Old and the New Testaments we hear the voice of God warning us against apostasy. God knew that His people have a wandering heart prone to be affected by many things, and that would rob us of our pure devotion to Him. A human heart is always looking and longing for new experiences with God and if we fail to discern the right from wrong, and not compare every experience with the Scriptures, we are bound to lose our way.
This morning’s reading shows us 3 distinctive ways the enemy will use, if not checked, we are sure to fall away from following God wholeheartedly. It’s interesting to note here that we have the same warnings given to the New Testaments believers too.
Deception – Signs and wonders (Vs.1&2): God is not opposed to signs and wonders. Our GOD is a miracle working God and will always be. But here we read how through these signs and wonders that had comes to pass, people were led away to follow a false religion. The point to note here is not the fulfillment of the prediction but the reaction of the people to it. They were captivated by the wonders but failed to test the words spoken by these false prophets. They were unable to differentiate the voice of the True God from the mouth pieces of Satan. To us believers, here’s Jesus’ warning in Matthew 24:24: “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” What’s the only way of escape? REMEMBER THE WORDS OF THE LORD, ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE!
Displaced Devotion – Soul ties (V.6): Another situation that could rob you of your pure devotion to God is in your commitment to your own loved ones over and above your commitment to God. Since your loyalty lies in the wrong place it becomes very hard to refuse anything that is suggested to you. Many who turn away from false religion and become followers of Jesus, face this crisis. Once these are saved, their entire household is in a mission to ‘win them over’ by words/actions to compromise their Christian walk. Here is a strong warning -anything that will lure us to desert God must be dealt with ruthlessly even if it means breaking all ties with the very ones we love. Listen to what Jesus says in Matt. 10:37[MSG] – Well-meaning family members can be your worst enemies. If you prefer father or mother over me, you don’t deserve me. If you prefer son or daughter over me, you don’t deserve me. How can you withstand such opposition? REMEMBER TO GROW IN YOUR LOVE FOR GOD!
Distracted Diligence - Corrupt gatherings (V.13): The next tactic the enemy does is to entice an entire community away from their allegiance to God, through evil men. Down the years we have heard many stories of cult leaders who have led people to their doom, by preaching a false gospel. How can such situations arise? As Warren Wiersbe says “The leaders did not purge the evil in the town so sin spread from person to person and soon everyone was infected.” Apostle John warns us in 1 John 2:19, knowing that we are living in the last hour, he says that antichrists will go out from the church (since they never belonged there), opposing God and leading people astray by their counterfeit spirit and false teachings. Hence if the church is not alert to the Spirit of truth and is not teaching sound doctrine these men will surely become active in the local churches. What is the way out of this situation?
REMEMBER TO ABIDE IN JESUS ALWAYS!
May we never undermine the core truths in God’s Word! May it be the bedrock of our Christian life thus saving us from falling away!
Remember: “The Truth in the Bible is a compass always pointing us in the right direction.”
Listen: 'Just a closer walk with Thee'
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