Prayer

Make me bold, Lord, that I may speak what your Word says.

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Make me humble, Lord, that I may do what your Word says.

One Way

In the Bible, there are many places which imply that we must follow one path, and not be divided or two-faced. Here are just a couple:

• Jesus said that the one who tried to enter the sheepfold through any way but the door was a robber (Joh 10:1).
• Jude wrote that the Spirit is not in those who cause divisions (Jud 1:19).
• Jesus said, 'I am the only way to get the the Father' (Joh 14:6).
• Jesus said that married couples become one flesh which is not for man to separate (Mat 19:6).
• Paul wrote that nothing can separate us from God (Rom 8:35-39).

One of my favourites, however, is found in Leviticus. Chapter 19, verse 19, says: "You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material."

These laws, if taken figuratively, are great standards to base your daily life upon, and can be supported by other verses in Scripture. Let's take a look, and see how we can apply them to our lives.

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"You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind." I do not like to compare humans to cattle, but 2Co 6:14 sprang to mind as soon as I read this, where Paul wrote: "Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. ... What fellowship has light with darkness?" Once people marry, they become one body. If the body believing, it brings forth light, and if the body is of unbelievers, it brings forth darkness. But how can a believer and an unbeliever be one body? A tree cannot bring forth two kinds of fruit (Mat 7:18). God dislikes division, but how is there to be fellowship between spiritual 'different kinds'? This law given to Moses many generations ago holds true today for sevants of the Lord Jesus.

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"You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed." To sow is to allow something to take root and grow. In Mar 16:15, Christ gave us what is known as the Great Commission -- to preach the Gospel to all creation. Elsewhere in the New Testament, Jesus said, "the seed is the Word of God." We, as children of Christ, have a responsibility to sow the Word of God by proclaiming the Gospel to our friends, our family, to strangers, to the rich and poor. We don't always see the results of the seeds that we plant in peoples' hearts, because watering those seeds is left up to the Holy Spirit. Our job is to sow them, and as children of God, let us sow no others. Let our fields be pure from evil fruit sown by our thoughtlessness and worldly nature, but let them be full of the fruit of the Spirit.

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"You shall not wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material." The Bible makes it clear that clothing and outer adornment are worthless in the eyes of God, and encourages us to clothes ourselves instead with humility (1Pe 5:5), righteous deeds ("fine linen") (Rev 19:8), and with Christ himself (Rom 13:24). See how glorious is that "fine line, bright and pure," described in Revelations! Let us not spoil its purity with stains of sin and strands of worldly string, but let our spiritual garments be pleasing to the Lord.

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God's character is unchanging. The same laws He gave millenia ago so that His people would live the life He had planned for them; along these same lines He gave us the New Testament's rules for living. God never wanted us to be two-faced and divided within ourselves, for the road to Him is one-way.

Man's way leads to a hopeless end - God's way leads to an endless hope! -Anonymous

Every Day

Doesn't it seem that we're better Christians when we're in need?

"When life gets too hard to stand... kneel," goes the saying; and when we're sick, when we commit a great sin, when we really need something; we pray, we read Scripture, we resolve to become better people. However, as soon as the Lord takes the burden off our shoulders and we can stand again... we walk away. Have you ever been guilty of this, my friends? Have you ever ceased serving the Lord after He granted you your desires? I know I have, and I'm sure you have too.

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Why do we serve God so fervently when we're in the midst of a crisis, and stop (save for a 2-second "thank you") as soon as the issue is resolved? What does this say about us? It shows that we are selfish. We act as if we only need God when there are problems in our lives. It shows that we are so proud that we don't want to go back to the helpless state in which we were when we found Him. It shows that we are not willing to give God our whole lives. I've acted in this way. I've done this yesterday, I've done it today; and I'm ashamed. Are you?

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Friends, we have to stop depending on God only in our crises, and start depending upon Him in every moment of our 'normal' daily lives as well. And even more importantly, we have to realize that we have needs in those normal days too, which are often even more critical than any physical illness or casualty. Every day is a 'crisis' enough to call upon God. On any given day, we are capable of commiting sin. On any given day, our unsaved friends could die. Are these not reason enough to turn to God, to continuously pray for guidance, to continuously pray for the salvation of our friends?

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We are in as much danger of death right now as we would be if we were hanging off the edge of a crumbling cliff, but we don't pray nearly as much in our situation as we would in the latter. Ralph Erksine once said, "I like a roaring devil better than a sleeping devil." You will fight the first one, but watch lest you get so comfortable with the latter one that you fall asleep beside it.

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Today, friends, don't wait until there's a car running a red light and about to hit you, to call upon God. Realize the silent, spiritual dangers that are crowding around you, your siblings in Christ, and your unsaved friends; and pray about these.

1Co 15:18 - Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

Mar 14:38 - Watch [be vigilant] and pray that you may not enter into temptation.
Mat 20:34 - And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.