GOD SPEAKS
Surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants the prophets. Amos 3:7
for Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica ; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. 2 Timothy 4:10
We have to keep our faith till the end. There is always a scope that we may leave the way of life. Leaving God happens not in just one second. It is a process. We may be in the process but cannot recognize it. There are people who were great followers of God, but have forsaken Him in their peak stage of their life.
In the above verse, you may see Demas has forsaken the God Servant Paul. Paul wrote in epistles, as the word of God says, Demas was called fellow laborer with Paul. “Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow laborers. Philemon 1:24.” The same Demas loved this present world and left Paul even God. Why does it happen? There may be many reasons for this happening.
Let us see this verse- “of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you : for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods : Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines : and his wives turned away his heart.1 Kings 4:2-3”
King Solomon was known for his wisdom. God himself gave this to him. The reason for his fame was God. Solomon was with God. But with his great wisdom cannot he understand the word of God that Children of Israel go in to the gentiles (non-believers) and shall not have fellowship with them? Definitely, he knew it. But he had his fellowship with them. This fellowship had changed his life. He had many wives, princesses and concubines from the gentiles. His wives turned away his heart. He left the living God who made him a king and gave him everything.
Your fellowship with the believers encourages your faith but friendship with the non-believers will turn away your heart from your True God:
Your fellowship with the believers encourages your faith but friendship with the non-believers will turn away your heart from your True God. Slowly, your love towards the Lord will fade away. You may never notice how and when you have left the living God. In this regard, God warned Solomon twice to keep his commandments and should not go after other gods. By that time, his heart already lost faith in Him. He was not in his control. And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods : but he kept not that which the Lord commanded. 1 Kings 11:9-10. Did Solomon’s wisdom save his life? Why was his name not added to the list of faithful elders (Hebrews 11th chapter)? Samson returned to the Lord and his name appears there in the list of faithful people. Even Rahab name appears there!
Therefore, God also says- Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness ? and what communion hath light with darkness ? Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, 2 Corinthians 7:14, 17. This does not mean that you hate the non-believers but you must be cautious of your fellowship with the non-believers. This could be one of the reasons you may leave the Living God. Doing this, it will be a great loss to you as the same is developing enmity with God. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. James 4:4.
“Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons; Deuteronomy 4:9.”
“and forgat his works, and his wonders that he had showed them. Psalms 78:11”
Regarding His works in your life, you –
(1) Take heed that you may not forget them: Those who forget His works may leave Him. Therefore, it is your responsibility that you cleave unto Him and meditate His work daily. If you forget his works, your faith level may come down. See a verse from the Bible-And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? Matt 16:7-9. Why did Jesus address them as people of little faith? The disciples forgot earlier incident that He made five loaves sufficient for more than five thousand people. Disciples who forgot this were called –people of little faith. Forgetting his works is a sign of little faith. If people of little faith are left for some time, would you expect that they may come again unto the Lord? This is the reason Jesus exhorted them to remember His works and continue in their faith. Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. Hebrews 4:12.
(2) Teach His works to your family and exhort them: One best way of remembering His works is teaching them daily to your family. It is possible only when you give major portion of your day to the Lord. The Bible says- and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. Deuteronomy 6:7. And also read –But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today ; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin Hebrews 4:13. This teaching and exhortations will remind them the works of the Lord. The Lord Servant Moses was not with the people of God made when they made the golden calf. And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron,and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us ; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him Exodus 32:1. Had Moses been there, he would have exhorted them and stopped this sin. Had the people been meditating His works, they would not have made a molten calf. Meditation of the word of God, His works and exhortation will stop people falling into sin.
Therefore, (1) Meditate His word and works all the day (2) Use your faith to exhort others. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever. Daniel 12:3.