Strong Consumption
Judges 1:28 KJV And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out.
Judges 2:1-2 KJV And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. (2) And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?
A great liberation has taken place with the intense bondage of a dominating government being escaped for the promise of complete freedom in a promised land. The price has been paid and the way has been made through the blood of Jesus to a place where no restrictions or restraints may ever again prohibit the liberty that is ours in Christ. To fully occupy this new domain, however, there can be no compromise whatsoever with the land to be occupied. To allow any of those old gods and old ways to remain is to errantly permit the existence of the greatest threat to continued freedom. At some point along the way any living opposition will become a thorn and source of great pain and disorder to the way of holiness that is the purpose, the intention and the possibility for the child of God.
There is this wonderful substance I love to consume call an apple fritter. It really should be good for you, too, because it does have apples and …… well, you know, it’s got good stuff in it- tastes heavenly anyway. The problem is that this wonderful pastry, along with many other food substances that get my mouth to watering have within them ingredients that will disrupt the health and functionality of this God-designed body. Over time if willfully included in my diet they will produce an excess amount of weight, cause problems with blood-flow, and present a welcome environment for cancer and other disease. It is so good to feel strong and healthy, but the only problem with these moments is that there can also be a feeling of invincibility and resistance to a condition that surely won’t have the same affect as it has in someone else. Just a little fritter here or a burrito there surely won’t be harmful to someone who is obviously so strong and healthy. The only problem is that any detrimental substance will begin to build up, take root and begin to establish eventual weakness and debilitating sickness. If strength could just be a motivation for further resistance to the destructive substance and ways rather than a motivation for compromise, it would never have to be compromised by the ‘little’ pleasures and passions.
Even more potentially destructive than my precious fritter is that attitude, that anger, that bitterness and that revenge that is allowed to remain in a person designed for holiness, righteousness, peace, forgiveness and love. It might seem they are small, especially in times when weakness doesn’t seem to be a problem. Just a little taste might not appear to be all that detrimental where strength is apparent, but if allowed to live and remain as a resident it will eventually grow to dominate and undermine any strength that once seemed invincible. Just a tiny bit of yeast will affect the whole loaf, and just a miniscule seed will grow to be a massive tree, so the least bit of unrighteousness allowed to remain will eventually bring diversion and failure to a life that was meant for God’s glory. With so much to be enjoyed in God today, may those things that will eventually cause heart failure be passed up for the purity of holiness and may those seemingly small tidbits of compromise be put in the garbage disposal rather than consumed and allowed to infest.