Deuteronomy 13:3 KJV
Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
When I was younger and riding bulls I went with a group of friends to a place outside of Clarkston, Washington where a stock contractor was "proving" a herd of new bucking bulls. These animals had never been out of the chute before and there was no telling what they would do. The only way to find out was to get a cowboy on them and let 'em buck.
The Bible is filled with passages that tell us God proves us. Like Peter, who so boldly claimed he would never deny Christ but ended up denying not once, but three times, and that, within the sight of the Lord, none of us know whether we will obey the Lord or not until we have been put to the test; proven. We might think that God would be more gracious to us if He protected us from such proving, but protecting the flesh never really helps anything. It is similar to our distaste for exercise. It hurts, it takes time and we would much prefer comforting the flesh than inflicting pain upon it. But experience has shown that to protect the body from the discomfort of exercise is indeed harmful, not helpful. If we love ourselves we will exercise. And like disciplining ourselves not to eat so much. Eating is necessary, enjoyable and can give a sense of comfort in difficult times. But in America, where food is in overabundance, we would be better off to deny our bodies the pleasure of food rather than giving in to it. To suffer a few hunger pains would do us a world of good. In other words, if we love our bodies, we will let them suffer.
In similar manner then, because God loves us He proves us, not because the proving is pleasant but because its product is best.
Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
When I was younger and riding bulls I went with a group of friends to a place outside of Clarkston, Washington where a stock contractor was "proving" a herd of new bucking bulls. These animals had never been out of the chute before and there was no telling what they would do. The only way to find out was to get a cowboy on them and let 'em buck.
The Bible is filled with passages that tell us God proves us. Like Peter, who so boldly claimed he would never deny Christ but ended up denying not once, but three times, and that, within the sight of the Lord, none of us know whether we will obey the Lord or not until we have been put to the test; proven. We might think that God would be more gracious to us if He protected us from such proving, but protecting the flesh never really helps anything. It is similar to our distaste for exercise. It hurts, it takes time and we would much prefer comforting the flesh than inflicting pain upon it. But experience has shown that to protect the body from the discomfort of exercise is indeed harmful, not helpful. If we love ourselves we will exercise. And like disciplining ourselves not to eat so much. Eating is necessary, enjoyable and can give a sense of comfort in difficult times. But in America, where food is in overabundance, we would be better off to deny our bodies the pleasure of food rather than giving in to it. To suffer a few hunger pains would do us a world of good. In other words, if we love our bodies, we will let them suffer.
In similar manner then, because God loves us He proves us, not because the proving is pleasant but because its product is best.
No comments:
Post a Comment