MEMORISE:
Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. Ephesians 5:14
READ: 1 Kings 13:11-22
11 Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father.
12 And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah.
13 And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,
14 And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am.
15 Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.
16 And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place:
17 For it was said to me by the word of the LORD, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.
18 He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.
19 So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.
20 And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back:
21 And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee,
22 But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.
MESSAGE
There is a clarion call to all children of God to wake up to God’s expectations of them in areas such as holy living, soul-wining and service to humanity. It is urgent and important to heed this call in obedience to our Father in heaven and in order to bring glory to His Holy Name. our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 5:15-16 sad to us:
“Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
Knowing that we live in perilous times, swiftly heeding this call has become all the more necessary. When the Holy Spirit made the call in today’s memory verse, things were not even as bad as they are today. Therefore, as the Church of God, we must awaken from our slumber. The Holy Spirit says we should arise from the dead, with a promise that Christ will give us light. In other words, many of us are dead spiritually.
Nevertheless, thank God that Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church, is alive to His responsibility of restoring us.
How do members of the body of Christ become dead, and what is actually killing them? Today’s Bible reading gives some insight on this. It narrates the story of an old prophet who lived in Bethel, which is translated to mean “house of God”. Ironically, this prophet living in the house of God was backslidden.
There was also another man, a young prophet who had not compromised his faith in Yahweh. God sent him to prophesy against the idolatrous regime of Jeroboam, with a warning that he must not rest along the way until he returned home from delivering God’s message. Also, he was commanded not to eat or return by the same way he went. This young prophet did according to what the Lord had told him, except that he felt so tired and decided to take a rest under an oak tree.
It is unfortunate that it was at this resting spot that the old prophet met and deceived him to go against God’s instructions. Beloved, there are several old prophets around us today. In their backslidden state, they still sound knowledgeable and full of experience when they teach. To unsuspecting young men and women of God, their words are filled with wisdom.
You must however beware of their heretic teachings. Their position on several issues can deceive young minds. The poor young prophet believed the old prophet’s lies, and he ended up taking deadly spiritual siesta! Tragically, this same old prophet was the one who delivered God’s judgment upon the young prophet.
So beware! The old prophet wanted to go to hell but wanted as many people as possible to go along with him. Awake, and don’t fall for the enemy’s tricks!
PRAYER POINT:
Father, please deliver me from the lies of the devil in the form of old prophet heretics.
Father let your will be done in my life
Father have mercy on me
Father let your grace speaks for me
Thanks for reading
Thanks to @sniffnscurry for his usually support to Christian post