1 Corinthians 10:11 “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.”
When you think about examples what comes to mind? Is it a parent that set a great example for you growing up? Is it something you built or fabricated and is a model of how something is to be done? Is it your children whom you are proud of? Whatever it may be, Paul, the great follower of Jesus, in chapter 10 is giving us not a good example to follow, but a bad example so we may be warned. He uses the children of Israel to illustrate his point that though our eternal home may be settled our lives may be lost here on earth.
Throughout the Israelite’s, wandering for 40 years GOD never left there side. Even though they complained, cursed God, told Moses and God they would rather go back to their old lives, etc, etc… ‘I know you have never done that before,’ God never left them. So, it is true for you and it is true for me. God will never leave us. He loves us and sent His Son to die so He would never have to leave us again. But, blessings certainly do follow obedience.
Are you learning this in your walk with the Lord that blessings follow obedience?
I read in a recent ‘Our Daily Bread’ devotional this story: “How we admire the obedience a dog shows to its master! Archibald Rutledge wrote that one day he met a man whose dog had just been killed in a forest fire. Heartbroken, the man explained to Rutledge how it happened. Because he worked out-of-doors, he often took his dog with him. That morning, he left the animal in a clearing and gave him a command to stay and watch his lunch bucket while he went into the forest. His faithful friend understood, for that’s exactly what he did. Then a fire started in the woods, and soon the blaze spread to the spot where the dog had been left. But he didn’t move. He stayed right where he was, in perfect obedience to his master’s word. With tearful eyes, the dog’s owner said, “I always had to be careful what I told him to do, because I knew he would do it.”
May God give you a heart that is bent towards God and wants to obey Him.
By His Spirit,
Pastor Bill