Take Heed!

Take Heed!

1 Corinthians 10:12 AMPC

[12] Therefore let anyone who thinks he stands [who feels sure that he has a steadfast mind and is standing firm], take heed lest he fall [into sin].

There is place for personal experience, and there is also a place of learning from the mistakes of other people. As you read the letter of Paul to the church in Corinth as laid out in the chapter from which today's extract is taken, you find Paul taking a look at Israel's past, highlighting the mistakes they made, and the price Israel paid for its errors. This was a nation that experienced some of the most amazing miracles the world has ever seen: the parting of the Red Sea for Israel to pass through, the daily provision of manna for 40 years, the provision of water from a Rock twice, and victory in warfare over enemies more skilled and experienced in the art and practice of war. This was a nation that was promised and given a nation that did not initially belong to them, but by the mercy and provision of God, they were given a land flowing with milk and honey, and blessed by God as His chosen possession. 

For a nation that had been blessed this way by God, you would expect it to be faithful to the One who set it apart. However, the bible records that with many of them, God was not pleased, and many died in the wilderness on their way to the land of promise. In fact, of the over 600,000 men above 20 years old who left Egypt, only Joshua and Caleb got into the land of promise; Moses, who had received the mandate to lead Israel into Egypt, did not get into the land of promise. That is the power and effect of sin. It is not something to toy with, or play around with. When you consider the price Jesus paid in order to deal with the power and consequences of sin, you know it is not something to joke with. At every stage of my life, I must keep checking to see if I am rightly connected and standing properly. It would be a great disservice to God if I waste the grace He has supplied to enable me live the life He has called me to live.

This is where the warning in the verse above become important. What gives me confidence in my ability to stand, if I am not founded on God in the first place? How else can I face the world, with all its confusion and drama, without the help of the One who knows the end from the beginning? He is the One who has been helping men of old stand, and his grace is not seasonal or occasional. I have to submit my life totally to Him; I cannot lay claim to any part, or assume I can make it on my own. The devil has been in the business of deceit and deception since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, so let no man think he can outsmart the devil. We need God's help, and He will gladly supply all we need, if only we will trust and depend on Him. Don't br confident in human measures; they won't sustain you in the day of trouble. Only God can. Would you give your life to Him? God's time of favour is here.