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Thursday, August
27, 2009
A Fall From Grace
1 Timothy 6:9 But they that will be rich
fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts,
which drown men in destruction and perdition. (KJV)
You know, the Lord is like a lifeguard at
a beach, who looking out saw mankind drowning in destruction and perdition.
God chose to send His Son and rescue us from drowning in this world and its
unbalanced way of thinking. Now it is important that we learn not to jump
back off the deep end again and back into the cesspool of this world, but to
keep a just balance with the Lord so that we will not go under again.
Proverbs 30:8-9 Remove far from me vanity
and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient
for me: (9) Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or
lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain. (KJV)
From: Adam Clarke Commentary
1. Give me not
poverty. The reason is added: Lest, being poor, I shall get into a covetous
spirit, and, impelled by want, distrust my Maker, and take my neighbour's
property; and, in order to excuse, hide, or vindicate my conduct, I take
the name of my God in vain; tapastiy
(heb 8610), "I catch at the name of God." Or, by swearing
falsely, endeavour to make myself pass for innocent. Forswere the name of
my God.-- Old Manuscript Bible. Coverdale, "deny or apostatize from
him."
2.
Give me not riches. For which petition he gives a reason also: Lest I be
full, and addict myself to luxurious living, pamper the flesh and starve
the soul, and so deny thee, the Fountain of goodness; and, if called on to
resort to first principles, I say, Who is Yahweh? Why should I acknowledge,
why should I serve him? And thus cast aside all religion, and all moral
obligation.
3.
The third request is, Feed me with food convenient for me,
haTªriypeeniy (heb 2963) lechem (heb 3899) chuqiy (heb 2706); the meaning of which is,
"give me as prey my statute allowance of bread," i. e., my daily
bread, a sufficient portion for each day. There is an allusion made to
hunting: "Direct so by thy good providence, that I may each day find
sufficient portion to subsist on, as a hunter in the forest prays that he
may have good speed." It is the province of a preacher to show the
importance and utility of such a prayer, and dilate the circumstances, and
expand the reasons, after the commentator has shown the literal sense.
We are in this world, but it doesn’t mean
we as believers in Christ have to adopt and adhere to the same mindset as
this world. We have to deal with things, like money, so learning to keep
all these things that the Lord gives us richly to enjoy in their proper
balance will keep us from falling from grace and setting our love on
something other than our Lord. Remember, no man can serve two masters; and trying
to serve two masters is not what is meant by ‘keeping a proper balance’.
Deuteronomy 8:2-4 And thou shalt remember
all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the
wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine
heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. (3) And he
humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which
thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee
know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live. (4) Thy raiment
waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years. (KJV)
God’s plan of salvation is like a
filtering process; those that respond to His message of love with a love
for Him will make it to the promised land, while all pretenders will fall
from grace and perish in the wilderness.
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