SUNDAY 13 November, 2016
Crossing Over the Line
And they crossed over the Jordan and camped in Aroer, on the right side of the town which is in the midst of the ravine of Gad, and toward Jazer. Then they came to Gilead and to the land of Tahtim Hodshi; they came to Dan Jaan and around to Sidon; and they came to the stronghold of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites. Then they went out to South Judah as far as Beersheba. - 2 Samuel 24:5-7
As Joab and his men crossed over the Jordan and into the other areas of Israel to number the people; they knew they had crossed the line––they had done what was unacceptableand aroused God’s anger.
The people of Sodom and Gomorrah had crossed the line when their sins and wickedness caused such an outcry from within the city. The people’s cries reached the ears of God (Genesis 18:20). Abraham stood in the gap to intercede for the people but God’s judgment would fall on the city. Because of God’s mercy only his nephew Lot and some of his family escaped the blazing inferno (Genesis 19:15-29).
In your personal life, how close do you get to a line of compromise? Many Christians try to have one foot in the world and one foot in the church as if straddling a fence. It is not how close we can get to that line but how far we need to stay away from that line that counts. Whether a person, city or nation we need to be careful not to cross the line and evoke the anger of the Lord through our willful and continual sin. Shall we not fear God?
If we choose to willfully sin, understand we will arouse God’s anger causing His righteous judgment to come upon our lives (Hebrews 10:26). Do you find yourself crossing over the fine line of compromise when you are embracing the fine pleasures of this world?
Adulterers andadulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
~James 4:4~
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