Four Don'ts

Read: 1 Corinthians 10
“Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved.” 1 Corinthians 10:6

Examine:
For the Church at Corinth the early days of the Church were very confusing. They came from a background that had no traditions or history with God and lived in a world that was full of false gods and idol worship. Paul reminds them that God’s expectations were not lowered and that His Character has not changed. Paul took the entire law of Moses and condensed it into four don’ts: don’t serve false gods, don’t take part in immorality, don’t tempt the Lord, and don’t discontentedly complain.

Apply:
A false god is anything I look to for provision, protection, or fulfillment. It is taking the glory that is due to God and giving it away to anything. Wealth, work, and stature are my false gods.

Immorality for me has to do with my eyes and my thoughts. It is hard to look anywhere today and not be bombarded by sensual images. The clothing styles of today, advertisements, and entertainment all center around sexual temptation. Nothing is sacred any more. Nothing is hidden. It is easy to play victim and blame the world but that is of no benefit to me. The bottom line is that there should not be a desire in me to look.

Tempting the Lord is trying His patience, being critical of Him, becoming a trial to Him or exploiting His goodness. When I look at this list they all come down to a lack of respect and awe for God. When I lose that I persist in things He has warned me against, I ignore His leading, I critique what He does, and I try to use Him to advance me. All of these are major issues in our relationship.

Discontentedly complaining is a major issue with God. He does not mind me expressing my pain to Him or being honest with my feelings. The issue becomes when I reject God as being good and define a lifestyle without Him as being better.

Pray:
I am honestly not sure how to pray this morning. I guess it is one of those days that feelings seem to allude words. The desires of a man’s heart are difficult to understand and impossible to control. Things inside of me seem to grip me and drive me without much premeditation. This is especially true when it comes to the four things listed above. The truth of my heart is that while there is a part of me that wants to be holy there is also very much a part of me that does not want to relinquish control of my life. It is counter intuitive to live my life subjected completely to Your leading. Your ways are not mine. Your logic does not follow my wisdom. Following You always carries me in the direction of my fears and shortcomings because it is in my weakness that I find Your strength.

I am not where I want to be, but thanks to You am nowhere near the man I once was. Regardless of the cost I have continued to pursue You. My pursuit has been imperfect. There have been many days that my following after You has been quite ugly. Be that as it may I have and continue to sacrifice what is comfortable and logical to follow You into something that painful and insane. I say this not to my credit but because I want to thank You for the transformation that continues to take place in my heart and the strengthening that I continue to experience in my soul and spirit. With all that is within me I remain Yours.