EXODUS 32:27-2

And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let every man put his sword on his side, and go in and out from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And about three thousand men of the people fell that day.

D. L. Moody once warned, “Go play with forked lightening, go trifle with pestilence and disease, but trifle not with God.” A relationship with the living God is a wonderful thing, but it must never be taken lightly.

The Israelites discovered that, much to their sorrow. God had communicated His standards to them (Ex. 20) and the people responded, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient” (24:7).

Yet only a short time later, while Moses was with God on Mount Sinai, they convinced Aaron to make an idol of gold. Then the people of God engaged in sexual debauchery (32:6). Such disregard toward God’s principles was met with swift and horrible consequences. About three thousand men were put to death by the avenging swords of the Levites.

The church today is often guilty of equal flippancy. Someone has observed, “Most middle-class Americans tend to worship their work, to work at their play and to play at their worship.” Can such an attitude avoid God’s judgment?

Ask God to help you deepen your commitment to His standards. Pray as David did, “Search me, O God, and know my heart . . and see if there is any wicked way in me” (Ps. 139:23-24). Commit yourself to love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind. It’s the direct path to purity and the power of God.

WHEN YOU PLAY GAMES WITH GOD, YOU ALWAYS LOSE.

WOODROW KROLL
www.backtothebible.in