Thursday, January 25, 2018

Quit Begging Bread

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

God gives bread and you can ask God directly. Please see Psalm 111 verses 4 to 6, 107 verses 8 to 9, 31 to 37, 105 verses 40 to 42, 104 verses 10 to 15, 81 verses 13 to 16. Why then should you subject yourself to the servitude of men and in the process sin against God because of bread when in reality God is the One Who gives bread?

Secondly, man does not live by bread alone. Please see Deuteronomy Chapter 8 verse 3, Matthew Chapter 4 verse 4, and Luke Chapter 4 verse 4. Therefore, do not allow hunger and the quest for food make you sin against God no matter how severe it is. By the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit at work in you; you should be able to exercise self control over hunger and the quest for food. Please see Galatians Chapter 5 verses 22 to 23.

It was hunger and the quest for food that made the unnamed foolish woman of 2nd Kings Chapter 6 verses 25 to 30 give her son to be eaten up. She did not consider the consequences of cannibalism how much more that of eating up her son and sinning against God by despising the blessing of God to her, disobeying God and committing murder. It was only after the woman who deceived her refused to give up her son that the foolish woman realized the consequences of what she had done – ingratitude to God for the gift of a child, despising that gift, disobeying God to commit the other sins of murder and cannibalism. Perhaps, she also realized the consequences of the loss of her child.

This also applies to the unbridled hunger and quest for material things as well as physical and emotional pleasure. No matter how great the craving nor the need appears, it should never override the greatest need of humans- to always obey God and be in right standing and fellowship with God.

The biblical King David refused to exercise self control when he saw Bathsheba. Consequently, he committed the sins of adultery and murder. King Ahab also coveted and was an accomplice in the murder of Naboth just so he could take possession of Naboth’s vineyard. Please see 1st Kings Chapter 21. Achan died young because of lack of self control. Please see Joshua Chapter 7.

You would probably argue that these people did not exercise self control because they did not have the infilling of the Holy considering that one of the essence of the fruit of the Holy Spirit is self control. But King David had some measure of the Holy Spirit yet he lusted after Bathsheba and in a moment of carelessness sinned. A number of the Israelites also refused to exercise self control while journeying through the wilderness. Please see 1st Corinthians Chapter 10 verses 1 to 11. They died; painfully young without fulfilling purpose and outside of the will of God.

Unfortunately, as desperate as the quest to satisfy hunger and other material and physical as well as spiritual desires may be, always consider the implications of satisfying those desires at the expense of disobeying God.



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