Psalm 1:1-2
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.
These verses show us something very fundamental which will help us in our walk with God as Christians. Usually when a believer wants to fall into sin or fall away from God, it is a process. It does not happen in a day, or sometimes days. Usually, several seeds are being sown and as time goes on, the believer is finally lured away or tempted by his own lust like the bible says.
The bible says, let he who thinks he stands take heed lest he falls. So, every believer is mandated or compelled to take heed. Meaning that because you are standing today does not mean you will still be standing tomorrow. Falling is a process, sometimes it is very subtle so we have to be very careful.
I want to show us something from that Psalm 1: 1-2: Someone shared with me an analogy sometime back using this scripture, imagine you are walking on the road and you come across a good friend, you exchange pleasantries and start talking, both of you continue walking down, talking. Note, walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. Then, usually for many people, if the discussion is really interesting, what do they do next? They stand. Standeth in the way of sinners! As if not enough, if the discussion is getting more interesting, they sit down. Sitteth in the seat of the scornful! That sitting down position is a difficult place to be in this context especially when you have been really engaged by the discussion. And then hours will go by so fast. So, falling is a process. Once you are found sitting so to say in sin, it will be difficult to stand up.
When the bible says, those who think they are standing should take heed because from my analogy, for instance you are still in a standing position outside your house, and imagine your family members are expecting you to come into the house so they call out to you and you say, “I am just standing outside, we will soon be done,” and you continue with your discussion, it can get to a point that you will say, depending on the intensity of the discussion, “let’s even go inside, sit down and continue this matter.” When you are finally seated, it will take a lot more to stand up and leave even though you might have had other things to do or meet up with. Hours and hours go by quickly.
The same way, when you start taking counsel from the ungodly, it might not even be directly, maybe social media or you happen to find yourself as a fan of someone who cannot be said to be a believer, you are beginning to walk in the counsel of the ungodly. Soon, you start getting comfortable around sin and those who want to have nothing to do with the Almighty God or choose not to believe in Him. “as long as I am not doing what they are doing, its fine.” Then, all of a sudden you find yourself seated, mocking the things of God, laughing at things that used to be sanctified to you.
So, it’s process of time, it’s a gradual process so we must guard our hearts; what goes in there, our association so that we do not subtly and gradually derail without knowing. The word of God is a sure guide from derailing, from falling away. That’s why the bible says, we must delight in God’s word. It’s our sure way to staying on track. “but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.” We must hold it dear to our hearts and follow it because our lives depend on it.
Remember, anyone that thinks he stands, take heed lest you fall. I pray that the Lord grants us grace and understanding in Jesus name.
Thanks for the gift of your time, I am Benedicta Apeh!
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