WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 2017
SPIRITUAL ADULTERY
-2 KINGS 17:1-8
KEY VERSE:
"For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods" (2 Kings 17:7).
A little boy, when his mother was out, got a chair and climbed up to a shelf in the closet to see if there was anything pleasant to eat. He saw a small white paper parcel. When he opened it, it was filled with white powder. The boy tasted and found it sweet; he took some more and put it up again. He soon became sick. When he complained to his mother, she asked what he had eaten. He disclosed that he had tasted "some of the sweet sugar in the closet". "Oh, my son, it is poison; it will kill you!" she exclaimed. The boy was taken to hospital to save his life. The boy never forgot the lesson thereafter, that what is sweet may be poison afterall. So it is with sin. Something we like much may be wrong; and if it’s wrong, it is sin. This is what happened to Israel during the reign of Hoshea, when he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. King Hoshea and his people decided to forsake the Lord who brought them out of bondage and serve other gods, walking in the statutes of the heathen whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel. Israel paid dearly for this as God forsook them and they were carried away into captivity. In the Old Testament dispensation, Israel was referred to as the wife of God. "For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel..." (Isaiah 54:5). Hence, anytime the children of Israel went back from following the Lord, it was compared to the treachery of a wife against her husband. So, the relationship between God and His people is compared to marriage. This is exactly the same picture we have in the New Testament concerning Christ and His Bride, the Church. When Christians withdraw their love from the Lord at any moment and gives same to the world, it is regarded as spiritual adultery. The world in this instance means the evil system of the world as controlled by the devil. As a Christian, being friendly with the world is unequal yoke. It is like bringing light and darkness together; linking righteousness with unrighteousness and bringing God and Satan into fellowship. It is deadly. Worldliness is spiritual adultery which will result in eternal death – eternal separation from God.
Thought for the day: The world and its dainties are mere mirage, yet deadly.
Bible Reading in one Year: 1 CORINTHIANS 1-4
No comments:
Post a Comment