Had it not been the Lord who was on our side
When men rose up against us….
Then the waters would have engulfed us,
The stream would have swept over our soul,
Then the raging waters would have swept over our soul.
— Psalm 124:2,4-5
Suppose you begin a new job. After a short time, it is your turn to be promoted. However, this promotion causes you to travel more. Eventually another promotion comes, and the only requirement is to work overtime. When these promotions first come, they are enjoyable. But these promotions can also be the beginning of a flood.
You may think, “What is wrong with getting a promotion?” There may be nothing wrong. Sometimes a promotion can be very healthy. But promotions can also be very dangerous. Such things can carry you away like a flood until you are completely outside of God’s economy. Then all of a sudden you find yourself out of the church life. You are out of the Lord’s presence, and you don’t even know how you got there. You can remember one year earlier, how much you loved the Lord and the church life. Now you wonder why, just a year later, you are going to parties instead of church meetings.
How could this happen? Because the world came as a flood. It began with some very small and subtle changes in your life which built up over time. Then it eventually came so fast that it was impossible to escape. For this reason the Bible warns us not to love the world nor the things in the world (1 John 2:15). The whole world is a flood that moves strongly and quickly. When we love the world or give into it only a little, we are in danger of being suddenly overwhelmed. Before we even know it the world will carry us away. This is why we must be careful.
Adapted from The Journey of Life, page 46.
Tomorrow: “A Snare to Trap Us.”