“The king of Sodom said to Abram, ‘ Give back my people who were captured. But you may keep for yourself the goods you have recovered.’
Abram replied to the king of Sodom ‘ I solemnly swear to the Lord God Most High, creator of heaven and earth, that I will not take so much as a single thread or sandal thong from what belongs to you. Otherwise you might say ‘ I am the one who made Abram rich.” [Gen. 15:21-23 (NLT)]
When Abraham (at that time Abram) used his 318 men to redeem Lot and all his possessions, he had also captured some of the king of Sodom’s people and possessions.
Notice the deal the king made with Abraham, he could keep all the goods. There was nothing wrong with these goods. Yet Abraham denied these goods as though they were mere trash. Why did he do this? I mean a gift is a gift, right? How could it hurt?
Suppose a man was to become a drug dealer, and make a million dollars off selling drugs, and then he finds God. Suppose he realizes his sin and stops dealing the drugs, but keeps all the money. By no longer sinning, but still living off the profit, which he earned by sinning, is this man still living in sin? The answer is YES. For LIVING OFF SIN is still LIVING IN SIN.
This is why Abraham rejected the king’s gifts. Abraham realized that the king was a wicked man, who earned his riches by wicked ways. If Abraham were to accept ANYTHING from that man, he too, would be involved in the king’s wickedness
Christians, if we strive to prosper in sin, by way of business or bribery, then we too are living in it. When we have a tangible reminder of the sin from our past or present, then it holds us in bondage. We cannot be free of sin until we are free of EVERYTHING THAT GOES ALONG WITH IT. Be it money, friends, material items ect. It must go! For you cannot be truly free if you let yourself be established in what is wrong.
Christians, we cannot strive to prosper in sin, for it COUNTS AGAINST US in heaven. Instead we must store up riches there.
Remember, the blessings from God are eternal. Gifts from the wicked ALWAYS turn sour in the end.
May the Lord’s guidance be with you all,
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1 comment:
How right you are.Many people are afraid to live without many of today's amenities,so they accept bribes,lied about their products,took what is not theirs,blackmail and many other sinful acts that they didn't think twice before doing it.'Other people are doing it,why shouldn't we?',that was their argument.God sees every little thing that we do.And we have to be ready for a good answer when He questions our actions later.
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