Prompt and Total Obedience

I could not cut anything out of this passage. It needs to be read in full.  The prophet had just left Jeroboam delivering God's message. Jeroboam tried to get him to stay and eat and drink with him. BUT God had told him not to. And he left as the Lord commanded.  While resting under a great tree. An old prophet came and told him HE had heard from God and he needed to come eat with HIM. And the prophet (Jadon) believed him and went to the old prophets home. Only to find that it was a lie. And he was then punished for disobeying God.  Read this section. Bold and Italics inserted to bring attention.

1 Kings 13: 14-30 Then he rode after the man of God and found him sitting under a great tree. The old prophet asked him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”

“Yes, I am,” he replied.

 Then he said to the man of God, “Come home with me and eat some food.”

 “No, I cannot,” he replied. “I am not allowed to eat or drink anything here in this place.  For the Lord gave me this command: ‘You must not eat or drink anything while you are there, and do not return to Judah by the same way you came.’”

 But the old prophet answered, “I am a prophet, too, just as you are. And an angel gave me this command from the Lord: ‘Bring him home with you so he can have something to eat and drink.’” But the old man was lying to him. So they went back together, and the man of God ate and drank at the prophet’s home.

 Then while they were sitting at the table, a command from the Lordcame to the old prophet.  He cried out to the man of God from Judah, “This is what the Lord says: You have defied the word of the Lord and have disobeyed the command the Lord your God gave you.  You came back to this place and ate and drank where he told you not to eat or drink. Because of this, your body will not be buried in the grave of your ancestors.”

 After the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the old prophet saddled his own donkey for him,  and the man of God started off again. But as he was traveling along, a lion came out and killed him. His body lay there on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. People who passed by saw the body lying in the road and the lion standing beside it, and they went and reported it in Bethel, where the old prophet lived.

 When the prophet heard the report, he said, “It is the man of God who disobeyed the Lord’s command. The Lord has fulfilled his word by causing the lion to attack and kill him.”

 Then the prophet said to his sons, “Saddle a donkey for me.” So they saddled a donkey,  and he went out and found the body lying in the road. The donkey and lion were still standing there beside it, for the lion had not eaten the body nor attacked the donkey.  So the prophet laid the body of the man of God on the donkey and took it back to the town to mourn over him and bury him.  He laid the body in his own grave, crying out in grief, “Oh, my brother!”

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ. This happens all to often, even today.  We are on the path that God has set out for us and someone or something that proclaims to be "OF GOD" takes us down a different path, the wrong path. And we find out later it was not OF GOD at all but the evil one taking us out of God Will and in turn making us ineffective for God's work. Sometimes it is a small alteration to our path and other times it is a devastating one that takes years to recover if we are able to at all.  I have seen this so many times.  Strong , Wise, purpose driven men and women of God who know what God's will is. And are fooled and taken out of commission. Dear ones. Let us stay vigilant! This man of God saw the obvious snare but was fooled by the person claiming to have heard from God. Staying connected to the Lord. Pray for His eyes to see what is and is not of Him. God will keep your path straight and when He gives you a message, a plan, a goal and something comes to steer you in a different direction PRAY. Seek. Ask. There is nothing to fear in asking Him if you are going the right direction. We think of them as obstacles and perhaps it is God showing us a new way. But it is evil. Evil trying to keep Men and Women of God away from the Will of our Father in Heaven. 

My heart felt prayer is---- That WE as God's people will stop allowing the evil one to take us out of the field. That we will stay vigilant in walking in HIS WILL and HIS WAY. Preparing the fields, planting the seeds and reaping the harvest for HIS Glory. We are all in different places in our path. Some of us have been blessed and yoke on the same path, where others are walking their paths alone. Either way. Stay the course.  Be disciple makers. Be peace makers. Be who God called you to be!  Blessings on your head dear children of the Most High God.