John 9:34 -- They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.
I spent a lot of time talking with the Lord this morning and listening to some gentle instrumental worship music. It was very peaceful. When we moved over to the Word, we came upon the ex-blind man's final interaction with the religious leaders.
In verses 23-33 the religious leaders continue to interrogate the man and he stands firm on the simple truth that he knows. The man's own parents feared the Pharisees, but this man stood boldly with no fear, repeating simple truth.
Here is what the Lord put heavily on me as we went over all these verses today.
Do not follow people. Follow Jesus and the Word. People can be wrong, make mistakes, be deceived, be self-deceived, choose poor paths, and be trapped in their understanding of things without even realizing it. If you are blindly following them, you could find yourself in a deep ditch and not know how you got there.
Now, hear me clearly on this, I'm not saying we don't listen to our pastor, elders, teachers, brothers, and sisters. I'm saying we don't blindly follow them as the end all, be all, final truth, and guide in our lives. It's about making sure God and His Word are all those things.
Christian, God created us to worship, fellowship, and follow and we're going to do just that, but we won't do those things with/for a stranger. So, if all your time is spent following people and no time is spent with God (in prayer & His Word), who are you going to trust, lean on, believe, look to for direction, and end up worshipping?
Again, God puts people in our paths such as pastors, teachers, brothers, and sisters, for a reason, but they are not God, and cannot be put in such a place as to be above God in our lives. This is a wakeup call to make sure you KNOW who is ordering your steps.
Proverbs 16:9 -- A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.
Just yesterday I listened to a powerful sermon online, full of truths, and great direction, however there were two places Holy Spirit raised a red flag for me. Both revolved around scriptures used to support the theme of the message. I prayed and was led to dive into a study of the passages. What I found were these scriptures relied on a single word and its definition to bring weight to the theme of the message.
However, the definitions used were incorrectly and it changed what Jesus said in those passages. It supported an overall good and powerful message, but the very Word of God was misused to lend the weight of scripture to the theme. On purpose or by accident I don't know, but I do know it highlighted just how dire it is that we follow God and not man. How desperately we need to know the Word of God, that we walk with Him and know who He is. That we recognize His voice so that we KNOW when He is speaking to us.
I tell you beloved, if I'd not been immersed in the Word and prayer daily for the past year, this would've slipped right by, and I wouldn't have blinked at it. Don't blindly follow people. Listen, learn, work, encourage, live life with them, but you follow Jesus and the Word of God.
John 21:21-22 -- When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!”
Well, that's where things went this morning. It's an adventure for sure following the Lord each day. Like I always say don't take my word for it, be the Berean and get into the Word yourself.
You are loved. You are prayed over. You are not alone.
Comments