January 23, 2019
There are some lessons we learn that are more important than others. Your mother taught you:
Nice lessons, but not the most critical.
GOD'S LESSONS
But, when God gives you a lesson, like He gave the Israelites and summarized in Deuteronomy, Chapter 8, we should listen carefully.
God was preparing His people to go in by faith and take the land He'd promised. Their parents stood on the east bank of the Jordan 40 years earlier and disobeyed the Lord because of their unbelief. For four decades, they had wandered and died in the wilderness. Now, God is warning and challenging their grown children. He reminds them of what they have learned from this experience.
“All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to give to your forefathers.
“You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.
“He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.” (Deut. 8:1-3)
What was the ultimate lesson? Listen to the Lord and do exactly what He says. In fact, you are to ""live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.""
Jesus quotes this again for us in Matthew 4:4 as He is tempted by Satan in the wilderness.
WHAT IS THE ULTIMATE AUTHORITY FOR MY LIFE?
That is the question. What will determine what I do: what others say, I say, or what God says? And this question is the most important question for every single day and every single decision.
You can't have it both ways. God went to extraordinary lengths to teach His children this lesson. And He does the same for us until we understand this truth.
HAVE I MASTERED THIS FOUNDATIONAL LESSON?
The proof will be if I listen to the Lord today and do exactly what the Great Leader, the Shepherd and Guardian of my soul, commands. It will be seen practically by whether I read my Bible, listen to the Holy Spirit’s promptings and move in obedience to what He is saying. If I look to Him as the final authority. It’s as simple as that.
If I do, He will lead me in all the right paths. My soul will be fully satisfied and my life will bear the marks of His blessing. And in the process, God will be honored for the great God that He is.
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