Be sober be vigilant

What about all those emails you have received over the years; the ones that come more often than not with good intentions, the ones that end like this;

“This prayer is so powerful. 
Pass this prayer to 12 people. 
Do not break or ask questions. 
This is a test. 
Does God come first in your life? 

If so, stop what you are doing & send to 12 people. 

NOW WATCH WHAT HE DOES!”

I may just as well walk up to a slot machine or buy a lotto ticket and hope for some miraculous result. I am sorry to burst your bubble but this is no more than wizardry! This may seem a little harsh if you have been active with those types of emails, but it is important that we look out for each other concerning the truth according to God’s Word. Remember we have an enemy that walks around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He is the archenemy and his greatest weapon is deception.

God has called us to be sober and vigilant; “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1Peter 5:8) - We have a natural tendency to avoid any form of hardship, but suffering has been designed to teach us obedience; “Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.” (Hebrews 5:8-9)

We have been called as children of God to test what people “put out” under the name of Christianity. Faith teaches us to believe God at His Word; in other words we must apply ourselves to the teachings of God’s word and not the opinions of men. “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2Timothy 4:2-4) – Let’s face it, who would not choose blessings over sufferings if they did not know any better? But we have the mind of Christ, which is to say if we have been born of His Spirit.  

Let us break down these types of emails; “this prayer is so powerful”, as if there is some magic attached to it! It has a formulae that if followed we will be blessed by it. Look at the subtlety, “this prayer is so powerful”, not our God is powerful! Trust is placed on the prayer and not upon the One we are praying too. I have seen a similar pattern emerging to this one; “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” (Romans 1:21) – We must be careful to pay particular attention to our daily activities in Christ. The world is looking to save the planet with all of its creatures; but many of those organisations believe in evolution and not in our God as the creator. They serve that which has been created but give no glory to the creator of all things, our God! On the surface it appears that if we save the rhino we are doing the right thing, but will we donate to those who are anti-God? If we do we are coming alongside an organization that is anti-God. What should we do? Do some research and if they are pro creation by all means support the cause, if not stay a million miles away!   

  

In like manner avoid anything that is not founded upon the rock, which is Jesus Christ our Lord. We are then told to “pass this prayer onto 12 people”, I am not sure if that number is linked to the twelve apostles, it may well be. Now it becomes evident that a formula is apparent and here comes the instruction; “Do not break or ask questions. This is a test”. It is a test to see whether we will examine its context the way we have been instructed to. The Berean brethren were commended for examining what was taught, we too must follow suit. “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” (Acts 17:11) – As soon as you see something asking you not to question (“do not break or ask questions”), alarm bells must ring loudly in your ears. Do not be sucked in with any form of manipulation playing on your weak conscience, “this is a test”. God has given us clear instructions with regard to how we should pray and pray we must but it must be done in secret. Our faith does not hinge on any formula no matter how appealing it may seem at the time, our faith depends upon God meeting all our needs with lessons along the way to teach us obedience and our sole dependency must be upon Him.    

     

Faith teaches us to believe in the unseen God, our heavenly Father, and not some mystical recipe that will bring us some good fortune.

Be sober, be vigilant…

Signing off

Tyrone