But with most of them
God
was not well please,
for their bodies were
scattered
in the wilderness...
Nor let us commit
sexual immorality,
as some of them did,
and in one day
23,000 fell; nor let
us tempt Christ,
as some of them also
tempted,
and were destroyed by
serpents;
nor complain, as some
of them
also complained, and
were destroyed
by the destroyer.
1 Corinthians 10: 5,
8 -- 10
Paul in
Chapter 3: 9, stated that the apostles, and this includes us, that we are:"For we are God’s fellow
workers..." As well is that we
are the temple of God, His building, and all are the fields of God. It is not enough to say that we belong to
God and not do the things that God has commanded, has asked, and has revealed
to us what is His will for us; and then not do the will of God. There are times when Christians allow their "Christian" work while they are working for God to make them evade their concentration on Him. Far too often Christians will worship their
work, that is, to place it in place of taking time to consecrate on Him. Our one concern should be our concentration
on God, and this will mean that all of their margins of life, mental, moral,
and spiritual, are free with the freedom of a child, a worshiping trial, not a
wayward child. The Hebrews began to
concentrate on the past and all the things that they had while living in Egypt.
They had food, housing, even though they were under slavery by the time they
left Egypt, they still were provided by the Egyptian government. Now, while undergoing hardship, and this by
their wayward ways, they long for the past and began to develop what they long
for in the present as though God who led them out of Egypt no longer cared for
them. While the Hebrews were traveling
around the desert and due to their lack of faith in God, many of them died in
their trek throughout the desert.
When a person does not follow the commands of God it is easy to say that
God no longer care for them and then begin to look for other means to bring
happiness to themselves. We often grow
weary: "Do not be deceived, God is
not mocked; for what ever a man so, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his lack will of the
flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap
ever lasting life. And lead us not grow
weary while doing a good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose
heart" (Galatians 6: 7 -- 9).
This substitution of faith is only a substitution that makes our work
that we consider to be godly when it is only nothing more than a replacement of
your worship, or adoration, or devotion, to a material thing, or an attitude,
that is simply in contradiction to the will of God. Let us not forget that when at once the concentration is on material or other things are gone,
all the margins of life are free and we are free to be under the dominance of God alone. There is no responsibility on you for the
work, the only responsibility you have is to keep in living in constant touch
with God, and to see that you allowed nothing to hinder your cooperation with
Him. God is not asleep! God will chastise His children! God is not to be mocked! When a person begins to substitute other
things in the place of God even though they may seem godly often lead a person
to commit sins. Such sins as even to
commit sexual immorality, even so much so as even if that did not occur there
is a great complaint in how God is handling things: therefore we attempt to
handle them ourselves. God had all of
this recorded for our benefit: "Now
all things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our
admonition, upon whom the news of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he
fall" (1 Corinthians 10: 11 -- 12).
God will not take away from us temptation. God has not taken away from us our humanity and ability to make
choices, a form of free will outside of the ability to have freedom to choose
salvation that has not been given to you by God to do so. We must understand this one thing that if we
do not take a step in the right direction God will not grab us by the shoulder
and turn us around to the right direction if we are not looking for that
direction. God is awake! God notices and knows everything you say,
do, and think. Very important here, GOD
IS FAITHFUL! Paul reminds us of this:
"No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God
is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but
with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to
bear it" (1 Corinthians 10: 13).
We have responsibility, and that responsibility is to take action
according to the Scriptures and we can only do that if we are in prayer and in
the study of His word. God did not tell
us that He will remove the idols from our life. God did not say that he would remove every temptation while we
lived in this life. We must first take
some action and that action must be based upon His word. Here is an action we must take: "Therefore,
my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak
as to why these men; Judge for yourself what I say" (1 Corinthians 10: 14
-- 15).
One of the
great things about our God, the Creator of all things that exist, is that, as
the Deist only admit, that he created and left all things to their end. Rather God says that He does exist and is in
your life and will give you w wat to get through anything that comes and to be able to do this in
this life for He is faithful. Are we
not blessed? Paul adds this: "The cup of blessing which we bless, is
it not the communion of the blood of Christ?
The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ"
(1 Corinthians 10: 16). By the
providence of God He engineers everything; where ever He puts us our one great
aim is to pour out a wholehearted devotion to Him.
Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened,
that it
cannot save, nor His ear heavy,
that it cannot hear.
Isaiah
59: 1
God is our salvation
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