BBD 04.22.03 Do Not Be Deceived
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
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The Burning Bush Devotional
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04.22.03
Do Not Be Deceived
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will
also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption,
but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And
let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if
we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to
all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. - Galatians
6:7-10.
Investigators in Athens, Alabama raided a mobile home and found two small
bags of marijuana in the home of Jesus Santana. Among pot smokers there has
developed a custom for some to use the pages of a Bible to roll their
joints. Which was apparently why Santana said when arrested, "I guess God
got y'all to get me." At least Santana was convinced that was the reason he
was caught. Sheriff Mike Blakely said, "When we found his marijuana, he
admitted he'd been smoking marijuana, and that he'd been tearing pages out
of the Bible, rolling it."
You would think that if your first name was Jesus that you would
occasionally think about God and what He desires in your life. Apparently
Santana had been doing some thinking along those lines and arrived at the
conclusion that God was not going to let him get by with what he had been
doing. We have a longsuffering God and that is how God is often portrayed
in the Bible. We are told in Lamentations it only because of the mercies of
God that we are not destroyed and that His mercies are new every morning.
Jesus said that the Father sends rain upon the just and unjust. Why is God
so merciful and longsuffering? God tells us why along with a warning in the
book of Romans, ".do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance,
and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to
repentance (Romans 2:4)?" It is not God's will that any should perish but
that all should come to repentance (II Peter 3:9).
God reached a point with the church at Cornith where he had the apostle Paul
confront them with the truth of their sins. Through that confrontation with
the truth came repentance. Paul writes, "Now I rejoice, not that you were
made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry
in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly
sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but
the sorrow of the world produces death (II Corinthians 7:2-10)." Many like
Jesus Santana may not have someone like the apostle Paul to confront them
with the truth. However, God will use whatever is available to bring a
person to repentance. In the case of Santana, God used undercover officers
conducting an investigation into illegal drug possession and use, which
resulted in the arrest and interruption of the normal routine of life of
this man. It allowed Santana to have an opportunity to reflect upon what
was going on in his life and whether that was pleasing to God.
Don't be deceived just because you have gotten by with doing certain things
or not doing certain things for a length of time does not mean that God
approves of what you are doing. God is longsuffering. But He is not mocked
and there will come a day of reckoning whether in this life or the next.
Copyright © 2003. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
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