Today’s Reading:
Deuteronomy 18: 9-11
“When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, be very careful not to imitate the detestable customs of the nation’s living there. For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord. It is because the other nations have done these detestable things that the Lord your God will drive them out ahead of you. But you must be blameless before the Lord your Go. The nations you are about to displace consult sorcerers and fortune-tellers, but the Lord your God forbids you to do such things. (Deuteronomy 18:9-15 AKV)
There is an adage in the Yoruba language of the people of the Western part of Nigeria that, ‘ti ewe ba pe lara ose, a di osi.’ Meaning that when a leave stays too long with the soap, it assumes the character of the soap. In today’s passage we see that God had good plan for the children of Israel when He asked them to conquer and dominate the land of Canaan. The occupier of the land that God was about to evacuate for the children of Israel were heathen nations that follow pagan ways of worship of their gods and this is detestable unto God. For example, they actually sacrifice their children to their god Molech (Leviticus 20:2-5), and do other occult practices which were strictly detestable unto God. Other ancient Israel’s neighbouring religions practice supernatural means of contact with the spirit world of the dead, to forthtell the future and ask for guidance. Moses must have envisaged that if the Israelites live long among these heathen nations or intermarry with them, they would soon turn to practicing these wicked acts with them. This is why he warned them in one of his speeches to them that it was because of these wicked practices that God is driving out the pagan nations and using the Israelites worship of one true God to replace these evil practices (v.12). God command the Israelites to avoid occult practices, shorn any attempt to discover secret knowledge or gain supernatural powers through what we would call demonic sources today. God called out his people to be holy and blameless before Him (v.13).
We may not be familiar with the terms used in today’s reading, but the Bible is talking about things like horoscope, tarot cards, psychic reading, mediums, following the horoscopes, making decisions based on the stars, and the New Age practices. God says these occult practices are repulsive to Him, but unfortunately, many still do these things. If you are reading this and you do these things, know that God is opposed to them. Anyone practising them is making decisions based on the stars. A women who practices transcendental meditation without knowing that it is bad, once asked her pastor whether it is good or bad to do transcendental meditation. The pastor could not immediately tell her if it is good or bad because he too does not know what the Bible says about it. He told her to let him know if it is good for her or not, so that he too could try it. Many of us today would have fallen into dangerous trap of the New Age activities had God not intervene in our lives. Most believers are stuck in occult practices and the New Age movement because of ignorance of the Word of God to stay away from these dangerous pursuits. It is true that one may be curious about these occult practices, but Satan is actually behind them, and God very much frowns that believers should have anything to do with them. It is a pity that till today believers are still fascinated about the horoscope, fortune telling, witchcraft, and strange occult practices. The desire to know and control the future lured people to all these things. We must not be unawares of the tricks and strategies of the devil. He has subtly come to steal, kill and destroy. We should know that the information Satan gives is likely to be distorted or is completely false. Unfortunately, some of the churches are not helping in this regard, they do not touch on it at all in their teachings.
To believers, the Word of God is the true source of Truth. The word of God is trustworthy, It is a lamp to our feet to navigate through the ditches and potholes of the dark earth. It is the light of Jesus that illuminate our lives. You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set your mind free. We cannot glean insight from the Scripture unless we spend time in it. God does not just drop a cloud of insight on us. Insight comes to us through the Bible. And every insightful Christian takes delight in meditating upon the word of God. The Holy Spirit of God alone can lead us into true joy, peace and victory in our daily pursuits. And the Spirit is the only one that can lead us into our future. The key to a joyful insightful living is making the Scripture a priority.
OLUFUNMILAYO TITILOLA ADEKUSIBE
Prayer:
Father, thank you for giving us the Scriptures to teach us about your truth, in Jesus name.
Let the light of Jesus Christ illuminate our dark world, in Jesus name.
Father, we ask for forgiveness of every sin causing disunity and powerlessness in our lives, in Jesus name.
My Father, I receive the power to arise, shine and excel in this dispensation, that I may restore glory to Your altar, in Jesus name.
We take authority over the power of darkness in all its ramifications, in Jesus name.
Father, grant unto the body of Christ the mind of Christ, forgiving spirit, tolerance, genuine repentance, understanding, submission, humility, brokenness, watchfulness and the mind to commend others better than ourselves, in Jesus name.
O God, overturn the gods of our nation and open new doors of progress for us, in Jesus name.
O God, turn the wisdom of the enemy of our nation to foolishness, in Jesus name.