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I Kings 12:20-13:34, Acts 9:26-43, Psalm 132:1-18, Proverbs 17:6
“But the prophet said to the king, ‘Even if you gave me half your palace, I wouldn’t go into it; nor would I eat or drink even water in this place! For the Lord has given me strict orders not to eat anything or drink any water while I’m here and not to return to Judah by the road I came on.'” I Kings 13:8-9
God specifically sent this young prophet back a different way so that he would run into an older prophet. While the young prophet wouldn’t fall for the obvious sin of eating with the king, he missed the mark by accepting the older prophet’s invitation to eat. He felt a comradery with the older man, a fellow prophet. How could he have imagined the other prophet would lie to him?
Hard as it seems, God sent him this way in order to test his obedience. He passed the first test but got tripped up by the second. The lesson today is this, if God has given you specific instruction, do not get off the path, even if an older person in the Lord is guiding you in another way. We must listen to God’s voice for ourselves and what another person says must line up with God’s word or we must decline to follow them. The young prophet specifically heard God’s voice, but He never got a second word from God to change direction. Stay with what you know until you distinctly hear different. Obedience may save your life one day.
PRAYER: Lord, help me to obedient to you, help me to pass the tests that come my way. According to John 10:27, I know Your voice and no other will I follow. Teach me to be discerning and not to drop my guard. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
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