PUT TO THE TEST

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In Christ, Mark

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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 our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In the Bible, and especially in the Old Testament, we find the Lord giving a great deal of attention to the matter of worshipping gods other than Him, the one true God, the Maker and Master of all things. This was because other cultures outside of Israel practiced polytheism, the worship of many gods, and several of those nations were living in Canaan, the land that God was giving to His people to inherit.

In Deuteronomy, chapter 13, we find Moses warning the Israelites about those who might try and persuade them to engage in pagan, polytheistic worship practices. The scriptures tell us that he was specifically cautioning against prophets, family members, and even complete communities that might try and lead them astray toward worshipping “other gods”. Note that in every one of these instances, the people of Israel were not only supposed to reject the propositions but they were to kill anyone who tried to entice them. The bottom line is that there was no room for sin and evil in God’s kingdom and anyone trying to tempt Israel were working under the auspice of Satan, not the Lord and His Spirit.

This truth leads me to the focal point of this message for the key verse in this passage comes at the very beginning as Moses says this:

“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.”

We should see here that any false prophet coming to try and sway Israel would do so under the watchful eye of God as He observed to see how His people would respond. In other words, the false prophet (or anyone else for that matter who tried to get the Israelites to worship false gods) would be a test for Israel to see if they would fail to be obedient to His commands.

Now, one might try and paint this picture as God initiating temptation but that would go counter to His Word for we read where He doesn’t tempt (James 1:13). Only Satan does the tempting but God evaluates our response to that testing to see how believers respond. There can only be one of two outcomes.

First, if we love our Lord with all our heart and soul, then we will stand firm in obedience to Him when Satan attempts to tempt us. We only come to this place of committed, loyal devotion when we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength as He demands (Mark 12:30), dedicating ourselves to follow, respect, and revere Him - every second of every minute of every hour of every day. For 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.

You’ve probably figured out that the second outcome is the polar opposite of the first. This is where a believer gives into the temptation, chasing after their own will and desire while rejecting God. This is equivalent to failing the test the Lord has set before them and that failure will never bring any blessing, only consequences.

With all this in place, how are you doing in regard to this matter in your life? How are you passing the tests that comes before you, the enticements that Satan uses to try and break your relationship with God?

Are you firmly rooted in Him with all your heart and soul and mind and strength? Or is your relationship with Him more situational, giving Him your attention when you want to while always leaving the door open to do what you want to do, chasing after your sinful desires?

Friends, the scriptures make it clear that this life is a test and God is grading us day-by-day.

When you look at your life, are you passing or failing?

Only you and the Lord know the answer to that question.

Amen. 

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.