So they called Rebekah and said to her, Will you go
with this man? And she said, I will go. (Genesis 24:58, Amplified
Bible)
I will go. Three simple
words that epitomized Rebekah’s faith in her bridegroom, a man she did not even know! She was willing to leave
her home and her people, a type of those believers who are wiling to leave
everything behind to follow Christ and become His bride.
And Ruth said, Urge me not to leave you or to turn
back from following you; for where you
go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my
people and your God my God. (Ruth 1:16, emphasis mine).
Ruth clung to Naomi, and professed
that she would follow her while Orpah kissed her mother-in-law and returned to
her people, a type of those believers who remain faithful in Christ and those who
turn back to the world.
Then the Lord rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah
brimstone and fire from the Lord out of the heavens. He overthrew, destroyed, and ended those cities, and all the
valley and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But
[Lot’s] wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. (Genesis 19,
24-26)
This is another type
of the saved believer who does not seek first the kingdom and looks longingly back to this world. Throughout Scripture,
we see people who falter at some point during their race. Esau sells his
birthright for a mere cup of stew. Moses disobeys the Lord by striking the rock
twice and is not allowed to enter the Promised Land. In fact, of the estimated
2.5 million Israelites who were believed to be living in the desert during that
time, only two men followed God and are able to enter the land: Joshua and
Caleb. The others who did not harken to God’s voice are not even allowed to see it (Numbers 14:22-30).
Paul mentions a thorn in his flesh that the Lord refuses to remove despite his pleas on three occasions. I can imagine him crying out: Lord, give me the strength, endurance, and faith to follow You in all ways and to seek first Your kingdom no matter what the cost.
Paul mentions a thorn in his flesh that the Lord refuses to remove despite his pleas on three occasions. I can imagine him crying out: Lord, give me the strength, endurance, and faith to follow You in all ways and to seek first Your kingdom no matter what the cost.
Satan’s plan remains the
same as it was in the garden, which is to disqualify man from inheriting the
kingdom. He attacks each of us in different ways. Learn more and be encouraged
by John Herbert’s excellent sermons about the three enemies that can disqualify
us from the race: the world, the flesh, and the devil.
