RUN DON’T REST
Memorise: For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one
to come. Hebrews 13:14; Read 1st Kings 13:7-14; 7 And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and
refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.
8 And the
man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will
not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in
this place:
this place:
9 For so
was it charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the
same way that thou camest.
10 So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came
to Bethel .
11 Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel ;
and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that
day in Bethel :
the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their
father.
12 And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons
had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah .
13 And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled
him the ass: and he rode thereon,
14 And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an
oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah ? And he
said, I am.
Bible in one year:
Leviticus 17:10-19:18, 1st Corinthians 11:17-12:11
MESSAGE!
In today’s Bible reading, we have a very sad story of a young prophet
sent by God to the city of Bethel
with strict instructions. After he delivered the message, he took a different
route homewards as instructed by God. But along the way, he felt danger had
passed and so he decided to take a rest. While taking his rest, an old prophet
came by, lied to him and convinced him to return with him. He obeyed this old
prophet and eventually met his death. If only he had delayed his rest, the
false prophet would have come looking for him without finding him. Just as it
happened to this young prophet, resting too soon has terminated the Christian
race of so many believers. In some races, we sometimes see a contestant that is
running so fast, leaving other contestants far behind. For the contestant
ahead, there is always the temptation to relax, reduce speed and to take the
rest of the journey easy, due to a false sense of having won the race already.
Many a contestant has yielded to such temptations and got the shock of a
lifetime. You will do yourself a lot of good to know that on earth, while on
our way to Heaven, we have no resting place. For this reason, Hebrew 4:9 says:
“There remaineth therefore
a rest to the people of God.”
What the devil or your flesh is suggesting to you as a rest is actually
meant to activate your spiritual death warrant. Our rest in Heaven is eternal,
and this is partly to compensate is for the no-rest race we have to run on earth.
If you want rest, wait until you get to Heaven.
Sometimes ago, I visited Australia .
While there, a brother shared a testimony that made me weep inside. The old man
testified that some time ago, a particular man of God who was highly anointed
came to Australia .
People brought their dead and they were raised back to life. Within one week,
there were ambulances bringing in dead people to the crusade. I could recall
this particular man of God. He started very well and was mightily used of God,
but along the line, he began to bring in some strange doctrines. He said all
that was needed now was only faith; there was no more need for fasting,
holiness, etc. He did not end up very well. Beloved, since you have started the
race, focus on it and continue to run. Receive all the grace that you can
muster from the Lord and continue running the race. Refuse any proposal to slow
down or rest, as this is meant to terminate your race.
Prayer Point
Father, let me never
encounter the rest that would terminate my race to Heaven, in Jesus’ Name.
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