(Further reflections on "An Ox, A Deer, and A Bird"--Sunday 2-July-2023)
God's grace is given, but godly discernment is gained. It is gained by practicing God's instructions. The more we commit to live out God’s word in our daily life, the closer we draw to Jesus, who is wiser than king Solomon and the source of wisdom.
Gaining God's wisdom enables us to discern godly and ungodly things in life. We will be able to detect dangers miles away and have the strength in Jesus to resist temptations, like He showed us, by stating God's word, "It is written....Luke 4:1-13)." As we keep practicing this, spiritual strength and godly discernment are being built up. This is an ongoing process of hearing God’s voice and putting them into practice by being attentive to God’s word so that we are able to detect seductive speech and (ungodly) persuasive talk miles away. This is by monitoring the heart's desire and checking the "footprints" of our lifestyle, so we are being aware of the condition of our heart, noticing the pattern of our mind, recognizing the lifestyle that we are after, and the direction where our life are heading toward.
Now leaving God's word behind, we by default are sinners who will be easily driven by sinful nature, be enticed, trapped by sinful desires, and killed like an ox, regardless of its brute strength that was led (by ropes) to a slaughter house; like a deer, regardless of its speed that was trapped and shot by a hunter; and like a bird, regardless of its acrobatic air maneuver that rushes itself into a fowler's setup.
This, therefore, is the choice before the naive who we innately are. The fool is the naive who deliberately sets aside God's word and wants to be wise in his/her own eyes.
So having godly discernment will help us to stay away from impending danger and spiritual /physical death.
May none of us will be like an ox, a deer, and a bird whose life driver by animal instinct.
Lord, have mercy.
--
Pastor Lap
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