I pray you are offended
August 8, 2021 3:53 PM
1King
Received:8/2021
I pray you are offended enough to motivate you to search the scriptures for yourself and seek out the truth which sets us free (John 8:31-32).
In the current fear driven crisis many are being led to spiritual slaughter and the yolk is fear. The battle being waged is for souls. The enemy is not flesh and bone, but an unseen enemy whose goal is to completely annihilate mankind. The enemy speaks about fear and his words are these: ““The threats we will be facing are real. You are capable of deciding your destiny. How are you going to handle it? This is not training, I’ve been waiting for this my whole life. You must realize that fear is not real, It’s a choice.” We have been presented with an important choice since the last part of 2020. Many professing Christians are taking the serum. Some of the reasons stated are…
1. “I want to travel | not have restrictions | see family.”
2. “I couldn’t live with myself if I made someone sick.”
3. “I took it because I wasn’t sure what to do and I don’t want to offend people.”
Sounds like “I” is not willing to be uncomfortable. In the busy life we live, we all are entitled to be comfortable, right? We all deserve to be free from pain and constraint of any kind, but are we trading our souls to be comfortable for this short existence (James 4:14; Psalm 90:12)? Remember the parable of the great feast?
The great feast was prepared and servants were sent out to call those who were invited. But those invited made excuses not to attend. ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’(Luke 14:15-24; Matthew 22:1-14). These guests decided their possessions, livelihood, and family were more important than attending the feast. Just as they made excuses, so are many today.
1. “I want to travel | not have restrictions | see family.”
Even with the serum they are recommending restrictions and recommending proof of the serum before you can move around freely. I thought this was America, the land of the free. Current options don’t sound like freedom (restrictions and segregation based on a choice of whether or not to take a serum). The only true freedom is in Christ Jesus (John 8:36; Romans 8:21, 6:18; Galatians 5:1,13 ; 1 Peter 2:16-17).
Remember in scripture the rich young ruler who asked Christ how to have eternal life. Christ told him to obey the commandments, to which he replied he had done so since his youth. Jesus then told him to sell his possessions and follow Him (Christ Jesus). The ruler went away sorrowful because he had great possessions (Matthew 19:16-22; Mark 10:17-22; Luke 18:18-23). This young man chose his possessions over eternal life. So did some of those invited to the feast. The question is, are you choosing possessions, comfort, or family instead of eternal life?
2. “I took it because I wasn’t sure what to do & I don’t want to offend people.”
Seriously! If you don’t know something, research it, don’t blindly do it (Hosea 4:6). Do you think that those who have chosen not to take the serum won’t be offended when their access to various places or activities has been restricted? At its core the proposed solution is segregation and that is offensive.
King Saul kept some things for himself under the excuse he was doing it for God (1 Samuel 15:1-25)? Because God looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7), God knew the true intent was not God centered but “I” centered, just like the excuses being offered today. Saul finally confessed his sins, but placed the blame on the Israelite people. He said, “I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice” (1 Samuel 15:24-25). Sounds like the modern excuse is the same thing Saul did.
People in this world can always find something that offends them. That’s a hard battle to win but God provided forgiveness which overcomes offensive spirits. The enemy is using fear to control (Deuteronomy 28:66-67) many under the perception of Christianity (2 Timothy 3:5-7). Scripture tells us not to be afraid of the king of Babylon (Jeremiah 42:11) because he gives us the spirit of fear. God overcome the enemy and as His children we must live in victory, not defeat (Revelation 12:11).
3. “I couldn’t live with myself if I made someone sick.”
Sounds very much like something a noble Christian would say. After all, it’s loving my neighbor, right? We are deceiving ourselves if we think we have this type of control. Have you ever had the common cold or even strep throat and passed it to someone else? This current crisis illness is also a virus and it has a statistically high survival rate. Followers of Christ are supposed to be in a relationship with the creator and sustainer of everything, the GREAT PHYSICIAN (Matthew 9:35). If God can’t protect and heal then there is no other (Isaiah 45:5). Scripture is clear that only by seeking the power of the Holy Spirit through prayer and supplication (Philippians 4:5-7; James 5:14-15) can we be healed, not by receiving a man-made serum.
Could you live with yourself if someone spent eternity in hell because you weren’t a living testimony for Jesus (1 Peter 3:15; Romans 14:13-23)? Have you heard anyone state this as a concern they couldn’t live with. Isn’t our purpose as children of Christ to be concerned with eternal life? Saul, first king of Israel, had good intentions when he sacrificed the burnt offering to God (1 Samuel 13:1-15) and saved all the best of the flocks of the Amalekites to sacrifice to God (1 Samuel 15:1-25). Both acts seemed to be “good” but they were disobedient to God.
Stop making excuses for disobedience because of fear (Isaiah 41:10). “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:57-62). If you need another example, look at what happened to Lot’s wife when she looked back (Genesis 19:26). When called before the Lord, excuses will not stand (Matthew 22:12).
“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” (Revelation 2:7,11,17,29,3:6,13,22). Christ Jesus is the only way (John 14:6) for all God’s children to have His name written on them (Isaiah 43:1) and to be a pillar in the temple of God (Revelation 3:12). How do you expect to be kings and priests (1 Peter 2:9, Revelation 1:6) in the Kingdom of God when you can’t say “No” to the enemy? Stop being a Christian and be a Christ Follower (John 14:21; Deuteronomy 6:1-2, 17, 8:6; 11:1, 13:4, 18).
