What Were You Thinking?

Exodus 32: "When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, 'Come, make us gods who will go before us.' . . . . Aaron answered them, 'Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing' . . . He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up our of Egypt.' When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, 'Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD.' So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry . . . . When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. And he took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it. He said to Aaron, 'What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?' 'Do not be angry, my lord,' Aaron answered, 'You know how prone these people are to evil. They said to me, 'Make us gods who will go before us' . . . . Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!' Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control . . . . So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, 'Whoever is for the LORD, come to me. . . . This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor' ' . . . . The next day Moses said to the people, 'You have committed a great sin. But now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.' "

If there has ever been a chapter that has demonstrated the spiritual depravity of mankind (a people who aspire to assert their own quest for lordship over the One True Lord), it would have to be Exodus 32. In this chapter, we find the Israelites, who had been delivered from the bondage of Egypt by the supernatural intervention of God Almighty. These Israelites had seen repeatedly the demonstration of the power of the Sovereign Lord, who performed truly miraculous acts in bringing deliverance to His chosen people: the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, the turning of the bitter water to drinkable water at Marah, the provision of manna and quail for food, and many others.


Three months after the Israelites had been rescued from Egypt, God summoned Moses to the mountaintop and told him to convey to the Israelites that God had called them out of all nations to be His holy nation . . . His treasured possession . . . provided that they were willing to submit to His sovereign (and exclusive) reign as Lord. God then demonstrated His mighty power through thunder and lightning, trumpet blasts, earthquakes, and clouds of billowing smoke on the mountain. The sight was so impressive that the people, who were encamped some distance from the mountain, trembled at the demonstration of power by the Lord. Moses encouraged the people not to be afraid, as God's demonstration of His sovereign power was to instill reverential fear in the people to keep them from sinning.


The Lord then told Moses to get Aaron and bring him up to the top of the mountain in order that He might communicate His laws for His people. The Lord knew that it was important for Aaron, who would act as the priest (intercessor) for the people, to see the magnificence of God's presence and be motivated to obedience. One specific thing that God communicated to Moses (with Aaron nearby) was to "not make any other gods (to be worshipped) alongside the Lord" (Exod. 20:23). God was to be feared and worshipped exclusively as the One True Lord of Hosts. God would not tolerate any syncretism in their worship; He was to be worshipped exclusively, for He in fact was (and is) the only true God!


Still, God was not finished with teaching the leaders of the Israelites the importance of their faithful commitment to Him as Lord; thus, He again summoned Moses to the mountaintop and he told Moses to bring Aaron and the 70 elders with him. The further stipulation this time was that only Moses was to approach the Lord; Aaron and the rest of the leaders would have to "worship at a distance" (Exod. 24:1b). Moses spoke with the Lord and wrote down everything that the Lord communicated to Him; he then returned to share this information with the people. It was a ceremonious occasion, as Moses read to the people the Word of the Lord (from the Book of the Covenant) and the people offered burnt offerings to the Lord. During this worshipful experience, the people repeatedly exclaimed, "everything the LORD has said we will do."


Moses, Aaron, Aaron's sons, and the 70 elders returned again to the mountain, and they saw an incredible theophany of the Lord. Although they did not see the Lord in His glorious splendor (for no one can see God and live [Exodus 33:18-20], these leaders were able to see under the Lord's feet a magnificent display of beautiful sapphire. God was communicating to His chosen elders that He is exclusively majestic in His holiness (see Exod. 15:11)! All of the leaders were impacted by the sight and celebrated the covenant meal in the presence of the Lord.


Some time later, God again summoned Moses to the mountain in order that He might give His commandments to His people. This time, Moses left Aaron and the elders behind to settle any disputes that may arise in Moses' absence, and Moses departed with Joshua as his aide. Tragically, as Moses was gone for 40 days on the mountain to commune with the Lord, the people determined to forsake their submission to the Lord, and they crafted for themselves false gods that they could worship instead of the Lord. In reality, because these golden objects of worship were inanimate and thus non-responsive, the people could manipulate these objects to proclaim what they in their hearts really desired. In other words, these rebellious people asserted their own lordship over their own lives, and they simply crafted false objects of worship to legitimize their despicable behavior against the One True Lord.



Probably the biggest shock was from Aaron and the leaders. They previously had seen the magnificent display under the feet of God, and one would think that they would have rebuked the people when they approached them to craft false gods to worship. Instead, Aaron and these leaders joined in the evil revelry, and they not only crafted a golden calf to worship but built an altar for the people to worship it. Then as an act of cosmic treason against the Lord and His goodness to the Israelites, Aaron attributed to the golden calf the credit of delivering the Israelites from bondage in Egypt. These wicked Israelites determined to forsake any remembrance of the goodness of the Lord in their lives, and they instead attributed all previous blessings of the Lord to objects other than God Himself.

The people truly were committed to their new pagan deity, for they rose early in the morning to offer sacrifices to it; of course they still incorporated some ceremonial rituals that they previously observed when they served the Lord. They probably did this to attempt to legitimize their new abhorrent ways, for as soon as the religious ceremony was over, they went out and indulged in their grossly licentious behavior. Now they felt as if they could do whatever their depraved hearts desired, for they had "divine sanction" to do whatever they wanted to do. Scriptures record that the people were "running wild . . . getting out of control." Their behavior was so repulsive that even their enemies thought them to be a laughingstock (32:25).



God told Moses on the mountain to go down and address the people, for they had "become corrupt, quickly turning away from the Lord's commands" (32:7-8). God's anger burned to the point of desiring to annihilate completely these lawless people, but the petitions of Moses subsided the wrath of the Lord.



When Moses saw the people in their wickedness, his anger burned within him. He threw the tablets of the law down the mountain in a symbolic display that the law of the Lord had been broken even before the tablets arrived in the camp. Moses then took the golden calf and burned it to powder; Moses mixed it in the water supply and forced the people to drink the bitter mixture so that they might taste the bitterness of their sinful behavior.



Moses then went to his brother, Aaron, and in effect asked, "What were you thinking . . . that you would let these people lead you into such great sin?" Aaron started pointing fingers at everyone and everything else other than himself. He said, "Moses, you know how these people are so prone to sin . . . they gave me their jewelry and I threw it into the fire and amazingly out popped this golden calf." Aaron had gotten caught participating in this idolatry, but he was not willing to take ownership for his part in it.



God relented from His total annihilation of the people, but He would bring judgment against those who perpetrated such rebellion against Him as Lord. The time would come when the Lord would bring a devastating plague upon His people, and many of the people who were instrumental in organizing the recalcitrance against God would meet their demise.



There is a tremendous word for us in this most powerful passage of Scripture. Whereas the people of Israel knew that God was the ONLY TRUE GOD, Who alone was to be worshipped and obeyed, they determined within their hearts to go their own way and assert their own wills over the Lord's will. They wanted to be their own gods; and they wanted to do whatever their depraved hearts desired. God would not be mocked at such rebellion, and His Holiness would be vindicated in His judgment against such wickedness.



We must learn from this story that we must never seek to assert our own lordship over the One True God. We must surrender ourselves to His lordship in our lives, and joyfully seek to obey Him as our Great God and Savior. The blessing for us is that our surrender to Him is not burdensome (see I John 5:3), for God grants us His favor and blessing to us when we seek Him first above all other persons and things (including ourselves).

Decision Making

Exodus 39:21: "They tied the rings of the breastpiece to the rings of the ephod with blue cord, connecting it to the waistband so that the breastpiece would not swing out from the ephod-as the LORD commanded Moses."

The high priest, as intercessor for the people of Israel before the Lord, had to wear very specific garments when he entered the Lord's presence in the Tabernacle. Two of these garments were the linen ephod (made with strands of gold and blue/purple/scarlet yarn) and the breastpiece. The purpose of the ephod was to present the names of the 12 tribes before the LORD when the designated priest entered the Holy of Holies to offer the atonement sacrifice for the sins of the covenant community. Specifically, the names of the tribes were inscribed on two onyx stones in gold filigree settings mounted on the shoulder pieces of the ephod so that the priest could 'bear the names on his shoulders as a memorial before the LORD [Exod. 28:12].'


The breastpiece was made like the ephod; it contained gold, blue/purple/scarlet yarn, and finely twisted linen. The breastpiece contained four rows of 3 stones representing the 12 tribes of Israel, and it contained the Urim and Thummin so that the priest 'would always bear the means of making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the Lord' [Exod 28:30].

So why would the Lord command that the breastpiece and the ephod be tied together? One could see the practical significance in that the priest would be sacrificing items on the holy altar, and thus he did not need to have the breastpiece swinging out wildly thus encumbering his ability to perform his duties. And the priest certainly did not want the briestpiece to touch inappropriately the altar of the LORD . . . . this would have brought desecration to the altar (and possibly the priest's death as well).

We can see another symbolic reason for this dictate from the LORD. The ephod was the garment piece that the intermediary would wear to bear the names of the chosen people and in effect represent them and their sins before the LORD. The breastpiece was used to represent the people in discerning the will of God. One can see the symbolic significance of the two being tied together, namely that when the Israelites were in a spirit of contrition and confession for their sins, they are able then to seek God's will concerning the direction that they were to take as a people.


We can find a parallel in the Christian walk today. Jesus Christ, our High Priest, is the one through whom we are able to receive forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 8:1-2). . . and He is the one through whom we ultimately find the answers to life's questions (Jeremiah 33:3) . To separate our decision making away from the one who provides forgiveness of sins is to seek solutions without the help of God Himself. This is because the Lord is unresponsive to those who would perpetuate their sinful rebellion against Him as Lord (see Psalm 66:18; I Peter 3:12; 4:7; Ezekiel 8:16-18).


Because the Lord Jesus Christ has made the solely sufficient sacrifice for our sins (I John 2:1-2), we like the high priests of ages past now can approach the "throne of grace with confidence" (Hebrews 4:16); still, we must remember that we need to approach the Lord with a heart of confession and contrition for our sin. When we receive forgiveness for our sins, we then are able to find God and His will for our lives (Jeremiah 29:13). God, who is rich in mercy and love (Ephesians 2:4) will never let the righteous fall (Psalm 55:22). He will pour out His wisdom to the pure in heart so that they can follow Him in obedience and receive His Divine blessings for their faithfulness to Him as Lord.

Let us never forget that repentance and discernment of God's will go hand in hand. Just as the linen ephod and breastpiece were inseparable, so too are we to never separate our contrition and our petitions for wisdom.

How Would the Lord Teach Us to Pray?

Luke 11:1-4: "One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, Lord teach us to pray just as John taught taught his disciples. He said to them, when you pray say, 'Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins. And lead us not into temptation.'"

In this gospel account, Jesus and his disciples had just been in Bethany near Jerusalem, and Jesus had found a certain place to pray. Whereas we don't know exactly where this certain place was, we do know that Jesus made it a discipline to find a secluded place to pray, unencumbered by the distractions of both His disciples and to the crowds that sought His miracles (see Mark 1:35 & Luke 6:12). Jesus was modeling for his disciples the need to have focused prayer with the Father. Whereas breathed prayers throughout the day are appropriate, if our prayer life is relegated to these brief exchanges, then we will find ourselves devoid of intimate fellowship with our loving Lord. Prayer should never be a low priority in our hectic lives; rather, we should long to have focused time with the Lord each day and feast upon the fellowship that we have with Him.

Jesus' disciples were impressed with the way John the Baptist's disciples prayed, and they wanted to pray with the same power and eloquence that their counterparts demonstrated. Knowing that the disciples had just been arguing amongst themselves as to whom would be the greatest in God's kingdom (see Luke 9:46), we are led to believe that the disciples did not have the purest of intentions when they presented this petition to the Lord. Most likely, they wanted to be as effective in their prayer life as John's disciples so that they could increase their notoriety in the Jewish community. Jesus responded with instruction that struck at the very heart of the prideful disposition of His disciples; specifically, Jesus illustrated a prayer that was focused on God and not the disciples egocentric behavior:

"He said to them, 'When you pray say,

Father, hallowed be YOUR name (The Greek word for "hallowed" means, "let your name be regarded as holy." Notice that Jesus was drawing attention to the majesty of the Sovereign Lord of Hosts, not the pray-er).

Your Kingdom come (Jesus wanted His disciples to be focused on God, His will, and His kingdom, not their self-adulation).

Give us each day our daily bread (Jesus wanted His disciples never to forget that God is the Provider of their every need, and so their faith should be in Him alone . . . not their abilities or their circumstances).

Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us (Jesus wanted His disciples to remember that they were sinners in need of the pardon of God. In fact, Jesus likely wanted to draw attention to the sinning that the disciples were perpetrating by seeking greatness over each another).

And lead us not into temptation (Jesus wanted His disciples to know the deliverance of God in protecting His disciples from sin).

Jesus then concluded the teaching by emphasizing the need for the disciples to be persistent in their prayer life, yearning for the very things mentioned above. Jesus told them that the Father would give the Holy Spirit to those who asked for Him. The word "ask" in Greek is continuous aspect, meaning that it is ongoing and persistent; thus, God wanted His disciples to seek Him passionately and consistently. He knew that those who would have such a passionate disposition would appreciate even more the sweetness of the blessing of His presence.

Whereas the disciples were wanting to increase their effectiveness in praying most likely to exalt themselves, Jesus' teaching on prayer was designed to re-orient their focus away from themselves and to center upon worshipping God and surrendering to His Lordship. As we are reflecting upon our own prayer lives, we would do well to hear from the Savior how it is we are to pray.

Trust God When You Are Called

Exodus 3:11-12: "But Moses said to God, 'Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?' And God said, 'I will be with you.'"

The verbal exchange between God and Moses in chapters 3 & 4 of Exodus presents us with a interesting display of confident Divine calling and skeptical receipt of such calling. God called Moses (who had been away from his people for 40 years) to return to Pharaoh in Egypt and tell him to release the Israelites from bondage. God approached Moses while he was watching his father-in-law's flock in the desert near Horeb (Sinai). I'm sure that after 40 years tending to the flock in the desert, Moses had resigned himself to a rather uneventful life being a shepherd. Whereas he earlier had been reared in Pharaoh's palace and had experienced the privilege of royalty, he had fled from Egypt after killing an Egyptian. This Egyptian had been beating a Hebrew slave, and Moses' "intervention" brought Pharaoh's anger and his edict of death for Moses. Moses knew he couldn't stick around if he wanted to live, so he got out of town to save his life.

Forty years later, Moses was summoned by the Lord to go back to Pharaoh and deliver the Israelites from their bondage. Moses first response to God was "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh . . . " Moses doubted his own worthiness to be God's emissary to the most powerful ruler in the known world at that time. God replied by saying "I will be with you"; then God gave Moses a prophetic sign to confirm his calling.

Moses then questioned his ability to present a convincing message when he got back to Egypt. He asked God, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The Lord did not appear to you'?" Again, God confirmed His calling by changing Moses' staff into a snake; God wanted to show Moses that He would work supernaturally through the messenger. Moses did not need to worry about proving himself to the people in Egypt; he simply needed to be obedient.

Moses then questioned his own eloquence in speaking. He lacked the confidence to speak in the presence of such powerful rulers. God told Moses, "Who gave man his mouth? . . . . Is it not I, the LORD? Now go; I will help you speak and teach you what to say."

Finally, with one last desperate attempt to discourage God's calling, Moses simply said, "O Lord, please someone else to do it." This lack of faith brought the anger of the Lord upon Moses, and apparently this response from the Lord was enough motivation for Moses to surrender to God's calling. Whereas Moses had his eyes on his own abilities and believed himself not to be an effective messenger, God had to reorient Moses' focus away from himself so that he would look to the Lord Almighty and His ability to accomplish great things through His chosen servant. Moses needed only to respond in faith to this summons from the Lord.

What is telling is the epitaph that was written of Moses at the end of his life: "No prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, who did all those miraculous signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt-to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel" (Deuteronomy 34:10-12). Even though Moses initially did not believe himself worthy or able to do what God called him to do, when he submitted to the will of God to go to Egypt and lead the Israelites out of captivity, he became one of the greatest prophets that the people of Israel would ever know.

This is a great word for us today. God in His sovereign power can take the ordinary servant and accomplish extraordinary things to accomplish His will. When God calls us, we must take our eyes off of our abilities and circumstances and surrender to the will of the Lord for our lives. When we are obedient to God's calling, we can expect that He will work supernaturally in us and through us to further His glorious kingdom.

Watch Your Towers!

Genesis 11:4: "Then they said, 'Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly.' They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.'"

This Biblical pericope is brief account of humanity unifying for the purpose of "making a name for themselves." More specifically, these people desired to thwart the sovereignty of the One True God by establishing themselves as supreme rulers of their own lives. Contrary to God's specific command for humanity to fill the earth (i.e. expand outwardly and settle throughout all regions of the earth [see Genesis 1:28]), the people collectively settled in the plain of Shinar (Babylonia). They were unwilling to listen to the will of God; instead, they determined that they would be in control of their own lives and would do whatever their own hearts desired.

Brazenly, the people determined to set up a towering edifice that would reach into the heavens toward God. In effect, these recalcitrant people were saying, "God, we've decided that you're not going to be supreme anymore in our lives. We're going to show you that we can be our own gods, and we can effectively challenge your right to be the supreme ruler of the world. We're going to build a tower up to your throne and prove that we are capable of challenging your claim to Lordship over us."

As these Babylonians began to build their tower, they swelled with prideful arrogance. They were impressed with their own coordinated accomplishments and said, "Look at us . . . . We're making a name for ourselves . . . nothing now is impossible for us. We are as powerful and able as God Himself; in fact, we are becoming like God ourselves. We now challenge God's command to fill the earth, and we now will be unified in purpose here in the land of Babel."

The Triune God would not permit this rebellion to continue; He saw that the people's unification and collective accomplishments were building within them a pompous attitude of defiance against His Holiness. God was able to see that these people swelled with the pride that they had made a name for themselves and determined in their hearts to assert themselves as co-equal with divinity. In response, God went down to the tower that they were building and confused the people's language. Suddenly the people could not understand each other, for each of them were speaking in strange, undiscernable tongues.

Although the people thought that they would vanquish their Divine foe, the Sovereign God would not be mocked. His purposes would be accomplished whether the people were responsive to His will or not; thus, God confused their language and "scattered them over the face of the whole earth." The construction of the brazen tower came to an abrupt halt, and the land was called "Babel," which sounds like the Hebraic word for "confusion."

There is a good word for us in this passage, namely that God has a divine purpose for us to be surrendered to Him as Lord and to follow His will willingly and obediently. Sadly, we are seeing in our culture a people not unlike the Babylonians of Genesis 11 . . . a people who desire to make a name for themselves and desire to assert their own quest for lordship over the One True God.

We can be assured that God is a God of constancy; just as He did not tolerate the rebellion of these Babylonians, so too He will not be mocked by the rebellion of people today (see Galatians 6:7). Anyone who determines to assert his own quest for divinity over the Lord will find himself scattered by the will of the Lord of Hosts! Proverbs 16:18 tells us that "Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall." Let us renounce any desires to assert our own lordship and rather submit to the Lord through repentance and obedience. We will find that the Lord will bless our surrender to Him and will bless us for our faithfulness to Him

So Why Aren't You Praying?

Jeremiah 33:3: "(The Lord said) Call upon me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."


James 4:2b: "You do not have, because you do not ask God."


Luke 18:1: "Jesus told his disciples . . . that they should always pray and not give up."


Throughout Christendom, there is a dearth of fervent prayer to God. If most professing Christians were honest, they would share that their prayer life is rather trite and routine. Most of the prayers that they offer are brief preludes to dinner or possibly the occasional prayer at bedtime (which only lasts until the head hits the pillow).


As we forsake this wonderful privilege of communing with our loving Lord, we wonder why our life experiences are unfulfilling and why we do not see God working supernaturally in our lives. Maybe we have tried praying in the past only to find that our prayers seemed not to accomplish much . . . maybe we have asked God for His Divine intervention only to find that our prayers were not answered according to our expectations. Maybe we have allowed such experiences to quench our faith to believe that God is our advocate, who desires to answer us when we are in need of Him (see Psalm 86:7). Maybe we think that God is so far removed from our everyday lives that He is not a resource for us when we need His supernatural presence (of course, that is not what Psalm 139:7-10 says). Or maybe we have just become too lazy and self-confident to pray . . . we know that it is important, but we don't want to invest the time and effort to do what we think we can do ourselves.


The fervency of our prayer life is a good indicator of how much we really trust God and believe that He is actively a part of our lives. God rewards those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6); therefore, if we are lacking God's blessings, we must look at ourselves to see if we "have not because we ask not." Such introspection gives us reason to ponder just how many blessings we may have missed from God simply because we failed to ask the Lord in faith.


We must remember Jesus' command always to pray and not give up. We too must remember that God's timing in answering us is not necessarily our own, and His delay in answering us is intentional so that He can heighten our dependence upon Him and increase our appreciation of His supernatural work when He does answer us. We must be reassured that God is working all things in accordance with His sovereign purposes, so that we will continue to be transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory (see Romans 8:28-29; 2 Corinthians 3:18). This may mean that His Divine response may be different from what we had expected . . . still, it is ultimately what is best for us, because God loves us even beyond our ability to comprehend.


Let's not give up on what God is wanting to do in our lives. Let us commit ourselves to continual prayer, and expect God to answer us in marvelous ways. And when He answers us, let us offer Him the praise He deserves, for truly our God is a "compassionate and gracious God . . . abounding in love and faithfulness" (Psalm 86:15).

Don't Harbor Self Ambition

James 3:14-17; 4:4,6-7; 5:16: "If you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such 'wisdom' does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit . . . . (for) friendship with the world is hatred toward God . . . anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God . . . . That is why Scripture says: 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.' Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you . . . . Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

As we read through the above cited passage, we are reminded that obedience to God through surrender to Him as Lord and submission to others in love is counter to the prevailing philosophy of the world. Whereas God would have believers renounce any quest for selfish ambition over Him as Master and Savior, the world would advise each person to get all he can (even at the expense of others), for personal desire transcends all other motivations and loyalties in life.

Scripture tells us that a self-absorbed disposition is not only worldly and unspiritual, but it is also "of the devil." When a person is consumed with his personal appetites as the foundational driver for his life, he cannot deny that such a preoccupation is utterly detestable to the Lord. Such sin is abhorrent to the Lord for it attempts to assert one's quest for divinity over the One True God. One need only look at the early chapters of Genesis to see that this craving by man was the catalyst that introduced sin into the world in the first place (see Genesis 3).

What God desires from His devoted followers is a heart inclined to "peace, consideration, submission, and mercy." God wants a people who have renounced everything to follow Him as their Master and will demonstrate the above character traits with those in whom they come in contact. So strong is this imperative from the Lord that He calls those who follow after their wanton desires "enemies of God (whom) God will oppose" in His Sovereign Power. Therefore, Scripture compels the one who is saturated with personal exaltation and satisfaction to forsake such sins and instead submit himself to God. A person who continually recommits himself to God as His Lord will, through the power of the Holy Spirit, be able to resist the temptations of the devil.

If one is asking how he might be able to reorient his life from selfishness to surrender, he need only look at James 5:16 as the antidote. In this passage, God implores us to "confess (our) sins to one another and pray for one another to experience healing." Notice that when a person confesses his sins, he is owning up to the wickedness in his life and in a spirit of humility is renouncing such vain pursuits. Notice too that Scripture compels the person to pray for others. Praying for others takes the focus away from self and puts it instead on loving others and seeking their best. The mind is taken away from what the flesh desires and instead thinks how he can be an agent of blessing to those for whom he is praying.

If we don't want to become an enemy of God, we will forsake the desires of our selfishness and instead put God first in our lives and love others with self-sacrificing love. God tells us that if we humble ourselves before Him, He in turn will bless us by "lifting us up" (James 4:10).