Be Careful
Deuteronomy 12:13
“Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest:”
Three times in this chapter God warns His people to “take heed” to some things that could hurt their walk with Him. God warned them of these three areas because He knew that if they didn’t guard themselves in these areas that Satan would use these areas to try to destroy them.
The words “take heed” mean, “to be careful.” For instance, we will tell someone when they are in a dangerous area to be careful. Mothers will quite often tell their boys to be careful not to hurt themselves while playing sports. Likewise, God saw three areas of life that are dangerous for the Christian and He warned us through the words in the verse above to be careful. Let me show you the three areas where we must be careful.
First, we are warned to be careful to serve God the right way. When you read the previous verses, you will see that God was telling the children of Israel that one day they would conquer the land of Canaan. God wanted them to be careful when times became easy not to let up in their care of how they served Him.
Likewise, when times are easy for us, and there seems to be no battles that we are facing, we must be careful that we don’t start looking for new ways to get closer to God. Don’t get me wrong, we ought always to strive to get closer to God, but if we’re not careful, we will end up trying to do something that God doesn’t want us to do. Times of ease can be dangerous and are times when we must be careful so that we continue to serve God.
Secondly, in verse 19 God warned the children of Israel to be careful to take care of the church leaders. God told them that the day would come when He would bless them financially and materially. God warned His people to be careful not to become selfish with their blessings during these times.
When God chooses to bless us, we must not forget the leaders of the church who helped us get to the point of God’s blessings. God was using the Levites, because they were workers in the temple, to teach us that we should take care of church leaders financially when God takes care of us financially.
Lastly, in verse 30 God warned the children of Israel to follow His commands. He told them that victory would come their way, and when the victory comes they were to be careful not to stop following the commands that brought those victories.
Christian, when God blesses you with a victory in your life, be careful that you don’t stop obeying the commands of God. Victory has a way of causing us to become self-sufficient to the point that we don’t think we need God or need to obey His commands. Be careful during times of victory that you don’t let the victories take you away from obeying God.
In all of these areas, let’s be careful to “take heed” unto ourselves. Let’s guard ourselves during times of ease, blessings and victories so that we don’t stray from the God Who blessed us with these. Let’s remember the actions that brought these blessings and victories will be what keeps them coming.
No comments:
Post a Comment