Corruption By Satan Is Just A Whisper Away

Isaiah 16:11-12 -  I will weep for Moab. My sorrow for Kir-hareseth will be very great.  On the hilltops the people of Moab will pray in anguish to their idols, but it will do them no good. They will cry to the gods in their temples, but no one will come to save them.

 

God had given Moab 3 years.  Their destruction would be very extensive …with only a few remaining. Their pride had caused them to think that they could create their own gods that would cater to their needs…allow them to do what they wanted….despite what the scriptures they had been given said…and he had been as patient as he could with this selfish attitude.

 

Here’s the thing that is so very hard for me to understand…even after being told what their problem was…they still clung to their self-made gods that could not help them one single bit.  They wept in sorrow…but had no feeling of remorse….no conscious thoughts that what they had done was wrong.  And poor Isaiah…who wanted more than anything for them to admit their sin…so God could show his mercy…could shout God’s wrath at them till he was blue in the face.

 

It reminds me that if we let ourselves be corrupted by satan into thinking that the world has anything better to offer than what God says we should be content with…it will turn out very badly for us.  Satan tricks us daily into thinking that what we want is just a stones throw a way.  He wants us to believe that we can have anything WE work hard enough for.

 

The truth is that God just doesn’t work that way.  He wants us to be so totally focused on him that having ‘things’ is the furthest thing from our hearts thoughts. He wants us to be more focused on having a relationship with him than how much stuff he has allowed us to amass. God knows how easily those ‘things’ can turn into idols. …for we are no stronger than Adam and eve when it comes to discerning the truth… if satan is whispering in our ears that we can have more than what he created in the garden he placed us in.  How ironic …that decision to take the first bite of apple from the tree of life was so deadly.

 

If we truly have our relationship with God completely focused on him…his plan for us would be as clear as it was to Jesus.  We would be more concerned with teaching God’s word…healing the sick to show his glory and power…and helping others to understand how to have a relationship with him that would save them for all eternity.

 

Father….thank you for the reminder that I need to be more focused on you so I can discern the whispers of satan to get me off track.  Forgive me for the times I have let satan deceive me into thinking I needed more than what you wanted me to have. Identify any idols that I have let become more important than my relationship with you…so you can show me how to let them go.  Show me your will clearly…so I can do what you put me here to do.  Amen.