May the mumbling commence!
It does well to pay heed to the prophets of the Lord. Test them, sure. But, when you find them to be true, listen and obey. It is a matter of eternal life and death. Read from the end of Deuteronomy chapter eighteen:
"The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your fellow Israelites, and you must listen to that prophet. For this is what you yourselves requested of the LORD your God when you were assembled at Mount Sinai. You begged that you might never again have to listen to the voice of the Lord your God or see this blazing fire for fear you would die.
Then the Lord said to me, 'Fine, I will do as they have requested. I will raise up a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites. I will tell that prophet what to say, and he will tell the people everything I command him. I will personally deal with anyone who will not listen to the messages the prophet proclaims on my behalf. But any prophet who claims to give a message from another god or who falsely claims to speak for me must die.' You may wonder, 'How will we know whether the prophecy is from the Lord or not?' If the prophet predicts something in the Lord's name and it does not happen, the Lord did not give the message. That prophet has spoken on his own and need not be feared. (Verses 15-22)
Our spiritual ancestors ordered up this way of communication between the Lord and His people. God has raised up prophets over the ages from Elijah to Malachi… from Martin Luther to Pope Francis. We need to pay careful attention to what the prophets of the Lord are saying.
If we don’t pay attention and obey, then we will suffer as the Lord deals with us. That is a call to wake-up, for sure.
But we know that some prophets are not genuine. How do we tell the false prophets from the real ones? This passage points us to the efficacy of their statements. If they are true… or come true, they are from God. If they are false… or do not come true, they are not from the Lord. False prophets need not be heeded or feared. Give us, O Lord, the wisdom and courage to know the difference and to follow only the true prophets of the Lord.
And, when we render service under the Lord, let us be glad! Let us not bemoan the fact that we are seemingly underappreciated. We have only done what is our duty to do. Read Jesus’ words from Luke chapter seventeen:
"When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, he doesn't just sit down and eat. He must first prepare his master's meal and serve him his supper before eating his own. And the servant is not even thanked, because he is merely doing what he is supposed to do. In the same way, when you obey me you should say, 'We are not worthy of praise. We are servants who have simply done our duty.'" (Verses 7-10)
May there be truth in the way we live for God. May there be truth in the statement that we have done our duty for the Lord. The glorification of the Lord and the wonderful work of worship will more than compensate us for the work.
So, let it be.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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