Jeremiah 17:5 KJV
[5] Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
Yesterday, we considered the scope, breath and depth of the blessing that comes from God for the man who trusts in the Lord. One thing was clear from yesterday's devotion, and that is what is being considered in the devotion for today: whatever God does is the focus of the devil, and how he can provide a close alternative. The devil is quite skilled in deception and deceit, and is able to closely mirror spiritual things, fooling those who do not know God, or who think that they can do things their own way and succeed in it. We have seen the benefits and blessings of trust in God; be sure that there would also be dire consequences too for not having complete trust in God. One may seem to get away with self-help for a while, and in fact, it may be very popular to present such schemes and results to the world, but you can be sure that the end of such schemes will always be disaster.
As God made very clear to king Asa through the prophet in 2 Chronicles 16:9, 'the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him'. As long as the heart is right, the impact will be right. As long as there is trust in man and whatever he may offer, God may take a back seat to see how things end up. For king Asa, it was made clear to him that his dependence on man and phyiscal armies were foolish steps to take, and from that time henceforth, he would have wars to fight. A king who had been promised victory over his enemies now aligned with the same enemy. Of course, he ended badly. As it was then, so is it now. The standards of God have not been lowered for anyone, and they will not be lowered anytime soon. Be careful of man-made schemes that promise divine intervention.
That which is of and from the flesh can never bring about that which only the Spirit of God can accomplish. You cannot give what you do not have, and you cannot produce any fruit that is contrary to the seed that has been planted. I also note, just like yesterday's devotion, that these are the direct words of God, not reported speech. I do have a choice of response: accept or reject the proposition of God, which is His help, and embrace the consequences of my choice. There is no middle ground, where I get to sit on the fence and do nothing. Life is too complex for that kind of carelessness. You do not want to go through life without the help of the One who designed all of life. You do not want to go through life with only the flesh to guide. That is what the verse above calls a curse, and it is not what the anyone of us can live with. Can you survive a single day outside of God? God's time of favour is here.
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