Dear Friends in Christ:

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised! We sure have a lot to be thankful for as we walk with God in these awesome end times. There is much opportunity for the believer these days to shine brightly for righteousness and truth but we must be careful to avoid mistakes that would destroy our witness and hinder our fruitfulness.

1 Corinthians chapter 10:1-12 gives us some real good advice. “Moreover, brethern, I would that ye should not be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all did eat the same spiritual meat; and all did drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”

Twice in this passage we are reminded that these things are for our example and for our admonition, in other words, let’s learn from these mistakes rather than repeat them. The people of Israel were delivered from bondage and came out of Egypt. They each had the same opportunity to advance to the Promised Land and enjoy the best that God had for them. Unfortunately, not all of them made it that far and we see the reasons why.

First of all there was idolatry. This doesn’t just mean bowing down to a statue or other man-made object, it also relates the idea of anything that takes our attention away from God. We must guard our hearts from the love of this world (1 John 2:15-17) and continually maintain our focus on God. The heavenly Father is a jealous God and he deserves and demands first place in our lives. Secondly, Paul mentions fornication, which simply means sexual immorality. You don’t have to look real hard to find our society is drowning in impurity and sexual sin. If we are not careful these ungodly things can even creep into the life of a believer and defile them. 1 Corinthians 6:18 warns us to “flee fornication”. Treat it like the poison that it really is. The third thing that we read here in this passage is testing God. Sometimes when people are going through trials they begin to question the love and the power of God. The devil loves to get people into this trap. Never doubt the faithfulness of God no matter how hard things may be right now. He’ll never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5) and He is on your side (Romans 8:31-39)! The Israelites saw the hand of God time after time bringing deliverance but still they insulted God and provoked and grieved Him with their unbelief (Hebrews 3:8-12). The last thing that caused many to fall in the wilderness was murmuring and complaining. We must maintain a thankful heart and stay grateful for the unfailing goodness of God. Don’t let a negative and complaining attitude sour you and keep you from God’s best. Rejoice in the Lord always and keep your heart clean. The Bible records for us some very important lessons here. Let’s take it to heart so that we can go all the way in the plan of God. Our best days are straight ahead!

For His Name,

John Merola