Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool— why die before your time? Ecclesiastes 7: 17, NIV.
Dear God, as we continue with this topic, please speak to our hearts. You know who may be needing this message, so please “Speak LORD, [for we are listening].” In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Yesterday we looked at three experiences of people who, obviously died before their allotted time. Today, I feel impressed to pursue this topic, because of a portion of Scripture that I came upon as I was studying, “Therefore—this is God‘s word, the God of Israel speaking—I once said that you and your ancestral family would be my priests indefinitely, but now—God‘s word, remember!—there is no way this can continue. I honor those who honor me; those who scorn me I demean. “Be well warned: It won’t be long before I wipe out both your family and your future family. No one in your family will make it to old age! You’ll see good things that I’m doing in Israel, but you’ll see it and weep, for no one in your family will live to enjoy it. I will leave one person to serve at my Altar, but it will be a hard life, with many tears. Everyone else in your family will die before their time. What happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be the proof: Both will die the same day” (1 Samuel 2: 30-34, MSG, emphasis provided). Dear ones, this is quite serious! Our sinful ways might shorten not only our lives, but the lives of our loved ones as well!
Yesterday we saw the first part of the fulfillment of this prophecy. Eli and his two sons, plus “thirty thousand foot soldiers,” and who knows how many more, died. According to the sacred record, “The slaughter was very great” (4: 10). Perhaps it is because many do not take sacred Scripture seriously enough, we tend to overlook certain messages that have been included in Scripture to warn us and to help us to flee from sin! In many contemporary religious circles we have created, a god after our image, who is inconsistent, and who acts according to the mood He is in. If He “got up on the right side,” we can do whatever we want to do, and He will overlook it. But if He “got up on the wrong side of the bed,” we are in for it! He will punish us!
Dearest friends, who am I to try to define who God is, or what He will do, at any given moment! That is not my intention. Far be it from me! What life has taught me, however, is that God will not adjust His Word to accommodate us, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows” (Galatians 6: 7). He encourages us to come up a little bit higher, to where His Word is. And He does this because He loves us, and desires to see us re-made into His image and likeness! God does not love us any less when He has to correct us! I give Him praise and thanks that He does not leave us where, and how, He finds us! Hallelujah! When He left the woman at the well she had regained her self-esteem to the extent that she could leave her water pot and go and face the very people she avoided in the past; and bring them to “see a Man who told [her everything that she had ever done]” (John 4: 28, 29)! When He left blind Bartimaeus, he was no longer blind. He could see (Mark 10: 52)! Praise the Lord! I do not know how He found you, but what I do know, is that, if You allow Him, He will restore your true identity. He will not leave you with the bruises and batters of life. He will put the healing oil of His Holy Spirit upon you, and cover you with His robe of righteousness! Hallelujah!
Perhaps God is speaking directly to someone today. I know He has spoken to my heart! He might be trying to keep someone from doing something that He knows will completely ruin that person, and perhaps, cost him or her, his or her physical life – before the allotted time! Only God and you know if He is speaking to you. If you will only deny yourself whatever it is that you want to do, and “honor Him,” He will honor you! His promise, that cannot fail, says the following: “I honor those who honor me.” No matter what life, and human beings, have done to you, God loves you, and wants to save you. Remember His promise, “God honors those who honor Him!”
You can take that promise to the bank – and enjoy length of days, and prosperity, upon the land which the LORD your God has in store for you!