Beware of man
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers ~ Psalm 1:1-3
You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you”~ Exodus 23:32-33
On their way to Canaan, God issued the above command to the children of Israel. He warned them against associating themselves with the foreign nations because that was going to be a fatal trap for them. And today, this command still stands.
God still warns us against our fellow man. We need to understand that man has been the cause of fall for his fellow man since from the beginning. It’s not that some of us are created to be bad, far from it. It’s because the same way God uses men to accomplish His divine plans and purposes, is the same way the enemy uses men to accomplish his own in the lives of people. This is why you must discern the kind of spirit working in men before you invite them into your life.
The scriptures have warned us severally to be careful of man lest he makes us fall into sin. Man can be deceptive and he has the power to lead his fellow man astray without using much effort. It’s easy for us to get counsel from people rather than from God, and sometimes we choose to obey them and follow their advice rather than listen to God and or obey Him. Many are times we turn a deaf ear to God and instead fix our eyes, ears and our full attention to our fellow man; believing and following with great loyalty whatever they tell us even if a good percentage of it is pure lie and deception. What most of us do not know is that not all people can be trusted and more often than not, those same people whom we rely so much on, are the ones that lead us to the wrong direction.
In the book of Numbers 13:1-3, God instructed Moses to send some men to go and explore the land of Canaan, which He was giving to the Israelites. Moses obeyed the Lord and from each ancestral tribe, he send one of their leaders. They faithfully went, explored the land and came back with a report (Numbers 13:29). The only problem was that they gave a bad report and they caused the whole Israelite community to doubt the ability of God to deliver them from their enemies no matter how strong and powerful they were. They even saw themselves as grasshoppers and unable to conquer their enemies, except for Caleb and Joshua who saw things differently.
The devil did not use foreigners or their enemies to bring them down, he used their leaders – the people they were close to; the people they knew and trusted. And it worked. God was angry with them and He vowed that they will never see the Promised Land, and true to His word, they all perished in the wilderness. There are many today who are struggling and suffering, while others are busy going round and round in cycles and circles simply because of listening to their fellow men. Many have missed God, their seasons and blessings because of their fellow men. It’s a snare that the enemy has successfully used to lead many of us astray. May God deliver us! May God open our eyes to see!
Understand that man is a source of constant danger and breakdown for his fellow man, and he can constantly cheat us out of our own destinies. Human philosophy and empty deceit has become the order of the day in our times and it will do us more good than harm if we ask God to approve all those people whom we associate with and to approve each and every person before entering into any agreement with them. It’s of great importance not to enter into any covenant with any man without first having them cleared by God.
You may have started a wonderful journey with God, but somewhere along the way you got stuck and even became stagnant in some or all areas of your life. This may have happened, not because you are unable to do or accomplish anything, but because you are carrying along the wrong people. If you want God to walk with you, you must constantly search yourself and ensure that those you associate with, and that which fills your heart is acceptable before Him. Enough said.
