Lot, King Solomon, Balaam the son of Boer, Samson, blessed by God, yet took those blessings for granted.
Lot was called by Peter, and thereby, since the Holy Scriptures are written by the Holy Spirit, a righteous man, yet we have difficulty seeing that in the accounts of his life, sitting at the gate of one of the most sinful and wicked cities ever known. From a simple nephew of Abraham to a man of great wealth, blessings expounded taken for granted.
“And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,” (1st Kings 11:9) Just a small idol, just a simple, non-descript grove, easing into sin in his old age.
All these and more started the race with vigor, but blessings that continue from the Lord can end up being expected by us, and that my friends is in part why we find ourselves in the apostacy, the great falling away. Shelter, food and water, clothing, all those items that we see as essential, until we think we need more, more while we ponder Luke 9:58. “And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.”
Great wisdom, incredible strength, we begin to believe the blessings will not cease, and so we begin to take them for granted. It is in a sense a form of prosperity theology, yet not in the form of the false belief that the Almighty wants us to be wealthy, that He desires us to have much of this world, but in that what we have He will not take away from us. The expectation is that the items will remain, we will be allowed to keep our possessions as long as we continue to serve Him, if we falter in that obedience, if we begin to take for granted those things of the world we have been blessed with, even unto our health, family and friends, then it must be because of sin that they are removed from us, and so these individuals begin to live in a works-based faith, and not one of accepting His will in their lives, forgetting Romans 8:28. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
They make sure to be to church on time, to do a little more for the church, read their Bible more often, do a good deed here and there, even attempting to pray more diligently, even fervently, yet not out of a love for the Savior, but because they fear that He will remove from them what they have worked so hard to obtain.
If they do not do this, then God will not do that. And that my friends is exactly what the fools of the world believe, “God helps those who help themselves.”
“Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” (Luke 22:42)
“But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.” (Job 2:10)
Thy will be done. Many of these understand that all we have been blessed with comes from the Lord, but they want to believe that what they have been given they will be allowed to keep, and so they devote their lives to Him as long as those items remain, but, and if He removes them, then “Thy will be done” does not come from their lips, but questions and doubts in their heart.
If you need all these items mentioned to be able to see His love for you, then I pity you if He removes them from you.
