Day 47, or February the 16th. Balaam or his donkey?
You choose. Our thoughts today are from Numbers
chapter 24, verse 13. Even if Balak gave me all
the silver and gold in his palace, I could not
do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to
go beyond the commands of the Lord, and I must
say only what the Lord says. Now the big picture
surrounding this verse. Just imagine the scene.
A whole nation turns up and lands on your doorstep.
This is what happened to Balak, king of Moab.
He is extremely worried because he knows just
how powerful the god of these people has proved
to be over recent years. He decides to fight
fire with fire and recruit a prophet to curse
them. He won't come cheap, but it will be worth
it. Sadly, the prophet won't obey the king, as
he is answerable to a higher authority, his donkey.
Actually, God speaks through the donkey, and
Balaam refuses to do the bidding of the Moabites,
and the Israelites remain on the east side of
the Jordan River, all ready to cross when the
time is right. Now our action step for today.
Money is not the root of all evil. Check 1 Timothy
chapter 6 verse 10, and you will find that it
says, For the love of money is the root of all
kinds of evil, and some people, craving money,
have wandered from the true faith, and pierced
themselves with many sorrows. No, money is not
evil, but making it the basis of your life is
foolishness, because it can never deliver what
you really need. Only God can do that. In the
account of Balaam, he declares clearly that a
palace full of silver and gold would not be enough
to go against God. Having said that, Balaam really
tried to avoid this conclusion, and it was only
when God intervened with a speaking donkey that
Balaam finally saw sense. Irrespective of how
much wealth we have, we are merely stewards of
it, and when we leave earth, it remains here
for the next steward. The more we invest in God's
kingdom, the more we may see the results. If
we only leave it in our will, someone else gets
the thrill of seeing how it's used.