9 Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who detest justice and make crooked all that is straight,
10 who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11 Its heads give judgment for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money; yet they lean on the LORD and say, "Is not the LORD in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us."
12 Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height.
Observation:
It seems to me that this is a good description of how Christianity can be tainted by money, and the business model. "Christianity for profit" leads leaders to fail to preach repentance (detest justice), to mock those who are at all righteous (make crooked all that is straight), to try to profit from teaching what God gave freely. These profiteers tend to teach prosperity over sanctification (no disaster shall come upon us).
When this happened in Israel, God sent them into exile to make them recognize their dependence on him.
Application:
Check all of the teachings against scripture - be especially vigilant about those heard on the expensive media (Radio or TV). Do not be too dependent on any community of preachers, but instead be firmly rooted in God's word. The bible is not about improving or making excuses for the old you - it is about developing the new you - the one that longs for righteousness motivated by the new heart, given and guided by the Holy Spirit.
Prayer:
I pray that I seek the truth, not my own profit or comfort. I thank Jesus greatly for suffering the penalty for my sin, and I pray that I have the courage and strength to suffer with him - to obey where it is not easy to obey, so that I can draw nearer to him.
1 comment:
Love the comment you made about the bible not being used to improve the "old life", but used to develop the "new life".
Great stuff!
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