When You've Been Spoken To

TOPIC: Obedience

SCRIPTURE: "Then the King said to the man of God, 'Come to the palace with me and have something to eat, and I will give you a gift.' But the man of God said to the King, 'Even if you gave me half of everything you own, I would not go with you. I would not eat any food or drink any water in this place. For the LORD gave me this command: 'You must NOT eat any food or drink ANY water while you are there, and do NOT return to Juda by the same way you came...' " (I Kings 13:7-9)

"An old prophet asked him, 'Are you the man of God who came from Judah?' 'Yes', he replied, 'I am.'
Then he said to the man of God, 'Come home with me and eat some food.' No, I cannot, he replied. 'I am not allowed to eat any food or drink any water here in the place. For the LORD gave me this command: 'You must NOT eat any food or drink ANY water while you are there, and do NOT return to Judah by the same way you came.'
BUT the OLD prophet answered, 'I am a prophet, too, just as you are. And an angel gave me this message from the LORD: 'Bring him home with you, and give him food to eat and water to drink.' "(I Kings 13:14-18)

OBSERVATION: The man with no name had been given very specific orders from the LORD not to do certain things. Thus, when invited by the King he declined and obeyed the LORD and left.
However, when what appeared to be, an older wiser prophet of God spoke to him saying, 'an angel of God has appeared to me and said, 'The LORD told him to tell me to invite you to come home with me.
The man with no name listened to a man who claimed to have a specific message from God, rather than to God himself.
His disobedience resulted in his death!!!

APPLICATION: As I was reading today my mind
1st: went to my blog from yesterday.
I stated, that just because someone is older does NOT mean that they automatically qualify as a wise person.

2nd: I also that about the passage in the New Testament where it tells us to beware of a wolf in sheeps clothing.

3rd: Then my mind went to when I was growing up. You see, when I had been spoken to by my dad, I knew it, and I knew that if I were disobedient then there would be a price to pay.

4th: From there my mind went straight to my little girls. They would tell you that they know when they've been spoken to. They would also tell you that they know that if they are disobedient then they're going to be in trouble.

5th: I thought about all the times, that I know, I've been spoken to by the LORD. Those times when I know that I know, that it's Him.

And
It seems to
"just so happen"
that everytime that occurs
I am presented with

An alternative
A Substitute
Another option

To DO what?

To take a SHORTCUT

To Delay

To ONLY partially obey


EVER BEEN THERE?


For future reference
please remember
the story of the man with no name

& remember

When You've Been Spoken to (by the LORD)

IF YOU chose to Disobey
though it may be different from
the man with no name

Know this
a "death" will occur
in you life as well

May this stop ALL of us in our tracks
the next time we are presented with
something other than what we know God has told us to do.
Knowing that there will be a price to pay
& it may be higher than we thought


Last but NOT least

6th: IF you've never been spoken to by the LORD
Then
You need to know this
You more than likely
Do NOT have a real relationship with Him.

***If after reading this blog you feel like #6 describes you and you would like to talk about that, feel free to e-mail me. I would love to chat with you about starting a personal relationship with Jesus.


PRAYER: Father God, thank you for the example of the man with no name. Please help me to never forget the price you paid for my sin, and help me to never forget that there are still real consequences for disobeying you today.