new church life: september/october 2016
But Balaam, even though he knows that it is good and right to obey the
Lord, tries to fight his understanding and beat it into submission in favor of
his evil will – his desire to disobey the Lord for the purpose of becoming rich
and highly honored.
This might happen to us sometimes, when we want something that we
know is against the Lord’s will. Perhaps we smother the thought that we should
be obedient, but it creeps up again. How many times can we beat the donkey
into submission before she dies? How many times can we put the Lord’s truths
aside before we can no longer hear them? How many times can we disobey
the Lord’s commandments in favor of our own selfish living? How many times
can we ignore the very real truth that spiritual living saves and natural living
condemns?
What if Balaam got off his donkey as she sat on the ground and charged
forward on foot, effectively leaving all of the truths that he had learned behind?
We must stop from time to time and be grateful to the Good Lord that
He has given us the ability to learn and understand His truths that lend new
meaning and purpose to our lives. That we can rise above the thoughts of
honors and riches in this world and can serve others in the things that we do.
That we can love one another the way He has loved us. We must heed His Word
so that we do not go marching to our destruction, but rather, that our eyes be
opened to the reality that He is Good, and in Him we can have all things.
No one said it’s easy all the time to obey the commands of the Lord, but
that’s why we have a capacity to understand the Lord’s Truths, even before we
truly love them.
When Balaam’s eyes were opened, he saw the reality and humbled himself
before it. The angel reminded him to be obedient, and he went on his way, and
ultimately, in this he blessed Israel three times.
May we be inspired by the Lord’s truths. May we come to understand
them, be affect ed by them and live them. And may we be a blessing to the
world the way Balaam was in this chapter of his life.
Amen.
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