In Not Of

Exodus 34

12 “Be very careful never to make a treaty with the people who live in the land where you are going. If you do, you will follow their evil ways and be trapped. 13 Instead, you must break down their pagan altars, smash their sacred pillars, and cut down their Asherah poles. 14 You must worship no other gods, for the Lord, whose very name is Jealous, is a God who is jealous about his relationship with you.”

God’s instructions to the children of Israel as He prepares them to enter the Promised Land are quite interesting. God does not desire for HIS people to compromise with the people of this world. Now, while we don’t have the specific instructions that God wanted the Israelites to follow (we are not to kill all the people who inhabit the land, for example), the prohibition against compromise is still very valid today. One of the major problems with the church in the 21st Century is the fact that we have compromised our beliefs to try to “fit in” with the pagans around us. I say this to our (and my) shame. I also believe those of us who claim to follow Christ and yet compromise our beliefs with the world are in grave peril. Remember, we are to be IN this world, but not OF this world.