Let's Not Burn Up God's House!
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin ArticlesThe story is told of a man who saw a house on fire while driving down the road. As he drew near the house, he saw a man sitting on an old couch surrounded by an assortment of junk and trash.
He asked the man if he were okay. The fellow assured him that he was fine. He then asked, “What’s going on here?” The man replied, “Oh, I’m just doing what the boss told me. He told me to come down here and take all of the trash out of this house and burn it.”
What do we suppose the boss thought when he found out that instead of burning the trash, the fellow burned the house?
The phrase, “just doing what the boss told me,” is similar to what happens in religion. Folks can think they are serving God when they are doing just the opposite of what the Lord wants them to do.
For example, Saul of Tarsus thought that he should do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth (Acts 26:9 – NKJV). He could have not been more mistaken, for when he discovered that the Lord’s instructions were, he changed from the church’s most fierce persecutor (Acts 8:3 – NKJV; Acts 9:1-2 – NKJV; cf. Gal. 1:13 – NKJV; 1 Timothy 1:13 – NKJV) to its most dedicated champion (Acts 20:17-27 – NKJV).
There’s nothing sadder than committing one’s life and energies to something contrary to God’s specific instructions. Thus it behooves all men to approach the Scriptures without prejudice and to understand what the will of the Lord is (Ephesians 5:17 – NKJV). Christians are to prove [test] all things and hold fast to that which is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21 – NKJV). Spiritual maturity comes only as people are able to properly discern between good and evil (Hebrews 5:13-14 – NKJV).
King Solomon prayed that God would give him:
“An understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil” (1 Kings 3:9 – NKJV).
Religious zeal is profitable, but it must be according to a knowledge based on God’s standard, or it can do more harm than good (Romans 10:2-3 – NKJV).
The bottom line is this: We need to carefully listen to God’s instructions so that we will not be found “burning up God’s house” when we ought to be building it up instead (1 Corinthians 14:26 – NKJV; 2 Corinthians 12:19 – NKJV; Ephesians 4:11-12 – NKJV).
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- Listen To Learn And Learn To Listen
- Listening For The Voice Of God
- Voice-Activated By God
- Our Spiritual “Hearing Aid”