PUT TO THE TEST

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, "Let us follow other gods" (gods you have not known) "and let us worship them," you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way the Lord your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you.

If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods that neither you nor your fathers have known, gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. Stone him to death, because he tried to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and no one among you will do such an evil thing again.

If you hear it said about one of the towns the Lord your God is giving you to live in that wicked men have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (gods you have not known), then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly. And if it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done among you, you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. Destroy it completely, both its people and its livestock. Gather all the plunder of the town into the middle of the public square and completely burn the town and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It is to remain a ruin forever, never to be rebuilt. None of those condemned things shall be found in your hands, so that the Lord will turn from his fierce anger; he will show you mercy, have compassion on you, and increase your numbers, as he promised on oath to your forefathers, because you obey the Lord your God, keeping all his commands that I am giving you today and doing what is right in his eyes.

Deuteronomy 13

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

A great deal of attention was paid to the matter of worshipping gods other than the one true God…the Maker of all things…the Father of all mankind. This was because every other culture outside of Israel practiced polytheism…the worship of many gods. And several of those nations were living in Canaan, the land that Israel was about to inherit.

In Chapter 13, Moses spends time warning Israel about those who might try and persuade them to engage in polytheistic worship practices. We see where he specifically addresses prophets, family members and even complete communities that might try and lead them astray toward worshipping “other gods”. In every instance, Israel was not only supposed to reject the propositions but they were to kill anyone who tried to entice them. There was no room for evil in God’s kingdom and anyone trying to tempt Israel were working under the auspice of Satan, not the Holy Spirit.

It’s this point that gets to the central message I would like to focus on in this devotional. For the key verse in this passage comes in the beginning when Moses is warning Israel about the polytheistic-believing prophets they might encounter. Note these words from Moses:

“The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.”

The false prophet coming to Israel might have been seen as God attempting to tempt Israel to see if they would fail to be obedient to His commands. But this would go counter to the scriptures that tell us that God does not tempt. Satan does that. God does test us though to see how we respond when Satan does tempt us. If we love Him with all our heart and soul, then we will stand firm in obedience to Him when Satan attempts to tempt us. And we only come to this place of loving God with all our heart and soul when we commit ourselves to follow and revere Him, every second of every minute of every hour of every day. In other words, always. And when we are committed to God at that level, then we will find it easy to keep His commands, obey Him, serve Him and hold fast to Him.

So how are you doing in your life? How are you passing the tests that life will bring to you…the enticements that Satan will use to see how resolute you are in your relationship with the Father. Are you firmly rooted in Him with all your heart and soul? Or is your relationship more occasional…like whenever you want to be in relationship with Him? The rest of the time, you are obedient to your own sinful desires.

Friends, the scriptures make this clear: life is a test and God is grading us day-by-day. How are you doing? Do you have a passing grade? Only you know the answer to that question. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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