Deuteronomy 13:1-4 - "Suppose there are
prophets among you, or those who have dreams about the future, and they promise
you signs or miracles, and the predicted signs or miracles take
place. If the prophets then say, 'Come, let us worship the gods of foreign
nations,' do not listen to them. The
LORD your God is testing you to see if you love him with all your heart and
soul. Serve only the LORD your God and
fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him.
Moses was warning them about false
prophets….for Satan would raise up many to trick the Israelites into leaving
what they had been taught as God’s rules for living. They were poised ready to
enter a land of crazy pagan worship styles…Moses wanted to be clear that God
would tolerate no worship of anyone or anything but him.
Moses said we should serve the Lord…Jehovah
only….we should obey him and listen just to him. He said we should cling to him…like my kids
clung to me when they were little. As
soon as I walked into the day care that cared for them while I worked...they
would run to grab both my legs…and hug the breath right out of me. Some days I
thought something horrible had happened to them…for they seemed to hug me
forever. They would begin a run down of
their day…chattering non stop straight into a list of requests that included
what they wanted for dinner…or what toy their friends had that I needed to buy
for them.
The word cling…hung in my spirit when I
read it. I knew as soon as I read it that God was revealing to me that I just
don’t do this. Satan has used a whole army of false prophets to trick me for
years… into a surface relationship with God.
He has whispered in my ear that my Sunday time with him…the Wednesday
night bible study… and the short bedtime prayers are more than most spend with
God. I simply have let the world water down my need for a more intense time
with God.
The problem is those false prophets Moses
warned the Israelites about. I couldn’t
even name all the influences that Satan used to trick me into such a
surface…hypocritical view of God’s love for me….but I know that 54 years has
compiled several viewpoint’s that my recent bible study is making me think
twice about. Moses said later in his chapter that Satan might even use our
nearest relatives to feed us lies about God. Jesus even made a strong statement
about this issue in Matthew 10:37-39…when he said…. “If
you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of
being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not
worthy of being mine. If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you
are not worthy of being mine. If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you
give it up for me, you will find it.”
It’s true…what
Jesus said you know…the more he reveals to me…the more I allow him to control
in my life…the more peace of mind I have.
The more I get to know Jesus… the more I understand about his great love
for me...and how important it is that we share it with others. The more I allow Satan to trick me into being
happy with what I already know…the more unhappy and frustrated my life becomes.
Father…I thank
you for the words of Moses that remind me to never be content with what I know
of you. I thank you for the words of
Moses that tell me to constantly be on my guard for the people Satan has placed
in my path to get me off track. Help me
father to discern the whispers of Satan….and quickly dismiss them…so I can
cling more to you. Teach me how to run
to you and hug you for hours at a time…so you can teach me…and train me the way
you did your son Jesus. Amen.
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