September 20 – Single-Minded Obedience (1 Kings 13:7-26)

“I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the Word of the Lord: ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’ (But he was lying to him.)” (1 Kings 13:18)

IN WORD:
God had sent a prophet from Judah to Bethel to speak to the king, but with orders not to eat or drink until his task was done and he had returned. The king offered food and drink, but the prophet resisted the temptation. But on the way home, another prophet likewise tempted him, claiming God’s permission. “An angel said to me…,” he asserted, and the man of God believed him. He ate and drank, contrary to God’s command.
What was the prophet’s downfall? What caused his disobedience? He chose unquestioned acceptance of another man’s prophecy over his own instructions from God. He doubted what he had previously known to be God’s voice. He did not keep his eyes fixed on the Word of God.
We run the same risk. Often God will speak to us straight from His Word. We hear the leading of the Spirit and the call of His voice, but we easily let others talk us out of our convictions. “They know more than I do,” we might argue. “I must be missing something,” we might confess. All the while, we are undermining the clear will of God.

IN DEED:
It is a biblically mandated task to check our interpretation of Scriptures with the body of Christ as a whole. We are never given permission to go off on personal tangents of doctrine or practice. We are, however, required to follow God’s voice more closely than the voice of tempers. Just because someone says, “God told me ,” doesn’t mean that God did. Discernment is paramount.
Do you hear the voice of God? Do His words jump off the pages of Scripture and into your heart? When they do, do not reject the Spirit who calls you. Fix your gaze entirely on His Word, and be single-minded in your obedience. Let nothing pull you off course.

“We must not trust every word of others or feeling within ourselves, but cautiously and patiently try the matter, whether it be of God.” -Thomas A’ Kempis-