Good Morning and welcome in everybody. Today we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
For thousands of years, people have used scales to measure certain items. Although many of us now use digital ones, in the past they would use mechanical scales. One such device was known as the equal arm beam balance, which is one of the simplest types of scales ever made. The exact center of a beam was found, and it was balanced on a fulcrum. On both ends of the beam were pans, in which you could place items to be weighed. A simple version of this scale can be found in many playgrounds, known as the teeter totter. It acts in the same manner, especially when your older brother sits on one side, dropping to the bottom and lifting you high up into the air. When the balance scale was at rest, without any type of load added, both sides would be level. But when you added just a tiny bit of weight to one side, the balance would tip to one side. It really didn’t take very much to do that, just a little bit more, would tip the scale in one’s favor.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
When somebody chooses to love anything in this world just a little bit more than the Lord Jesus Christ, it can tip the scale. At that point, your love becomes greater for the world than the things of God, leading your heart away from the creator of all things.
1 John 2 ¹⁵ Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. ¹⁷ And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
Scriptures clearly teach us to love one another, but our love for God has to be far above any relationship that one might possess on the Earth. This is why I’ve always taught my family that the commandments are in order for a reason. The first commandment is to love God completely. If He is not first in your heart, then you can be led astray by others.
Mark 12 ²⁸ And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? ²⁹ And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
³⁰ And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
When we love anybody more than God, it can affect our decision making processes. Instead of placing God first in your heart and obeying His will, you will do the will of someone else. Our love for God must dwarf anything else in this world, and it’s fairly easy to know if you possess this type of love. Keeping the first commandment will result in a perfect heart of obedience towards the Lord, and it is obedience to His will, that is the proof that we love Him
John 14 ²¹ He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. ²² Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? ²³ Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
²⁴ He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.
When somebody chooses to love the world, just a little bit more, the heart is redirected and pulls away from God. Instead of listening to the wisdom of God, they turn their ears away to the world instead.
2 Timothy 4 ³ For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; ⁴ And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
A man is the head of his household, and has been granted that place of authority by God. Out of loving obedience to the Lord, anyone who professes to be a Christian will obey the head of the house. If they choose not to, it’s only rebellion against the will of God. A man’s decisions are never to be dictated by the will of his family, but by the will of God. There are many men who have been led astray by their own wives. This is because they loved them a little too much, hearkening unto them, rather than God. It happened in the garden of Eden, and it continues to happen today. When men choose to listen to women rather than God, they bring shame upon themselves. God must be first in our hearts, and we are to love Him above all others. It is only then that we can become perfectly obedient to His guidance and purpose. If He isn’t the greatest love in your heart, then you cannot even become a disciple of Christ. This is because you will listen to others rather than God.
“If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:26
King David loved the world more than God when he got involved with another man’s wife. His heart was not perfect with the Lord, and it resulted in certain punishments and consequences. King Solomon loved the world more than God when he chose to listen to his wives and get involved with their false religion. God must be our greatest love and the focal point of every decision that we make. We are never to allow our decisions to be influenced by a wife or your children. We are never to allow our decisions to be swayed by relatives or neighbors. They must be influenced by the will of God, because our salvation depends upon it.
There are innumerable amounts of temptations in this world that can come in between you and a close relationship with God. There are many worldly things that people set their hearts on, rather than placing them on Christ.
Is God your greatest love, or are you allowing the things of this world to begin….
….. Tipping the Scale
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️
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