A Little Here, a Little There

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A Little Here,   A Little There

People like to make up rules  and determine how things should be done.      It makes them feel important.      So,  even in a child’s game,  one child can have a tendency  to make up rules  as they go along.      And,  of course,  those new rules have some benefit  for that child.

In every society  there are rules  and protocols  of all sorts.      In Israel,  the rules made up by the religious leaders  began to take precedence  over God’s word.      The number of rules  that were imposed upon the people  was overbearing  and not at all in accord  with God’s message of salvation.      So,  prophets were sent by God  to preach the truths  of God’s word,  in order to bring relief  to the people  and set the record straight.      But,  their message of truth  was totally rejected  and many of these true preachers  were killed.

Then the prophet Isaiah preached to the people  regarding all this rule making  that was misleading  all of Israel.      In Isaiah 28:9-13,  he wrote,

To whom  would He teach knowledge?
And to whom  would He interpret the message?
Those just weaned from milk?
Those  just taken  from the breast?
For He says,
‘Order on order,  order on order,
Line on line, line on line,
A little here,  a little there’

Indeed,  He will speak to this people
Through stammering lips  and a foreign tongue,
He who said to them,  ‘Here is rest,  give rest to the weary.’
And,  ‘Here is repose,’  but they would not listen.

So  the word of the LORD to them  will be,
‘Order on order,  order on order,
Line on line,  line on line,
A little here,  a little there,’
That they may go  and stumble backward,  be broken,  snared,  and taken captive.

In other words,  God’s word is given to us all  —  and the religious leaders  were especially made aware  of God’s desire  to give rest and repose to the people,  letting them know  that all of these man-made rules  were not from God.      They were made aware  that God does not want to impose  unnecessary rules upon us.

But,  the people refused to listen  to God’s message of salvation  and rest.      They wanted to feel important  by having rules.      So,  God let them try to live  by all their man-made rules.      But,  God warned them  that all these man-made rules  would eventually make them,  “go  and stumble backward,  be broken,  snared,  and taken captive.”

The laws that God has set before us  in the Ten Commandments  are good  and good for us.      God wants us  to have this strong foundation  for guidance  in right living.      But,  when people go beyond  what God has said,  and start making up  their own standards  for what is right,  they are disregarding God  and setting up their own eventual downfall.      Surely,  it happens  just a little at a time  —  “a little here, a little there.”

People will think,  “Well,  just this one,  little additional way of doing things  will make things a little better.”      But,  people don’t stop there.      Soon they add another little tradition,  and another  kinda helpful  law,  and then another.      None  of those man-made customs  help the people  to know the LORD and Savior  in the truths  that He has set forth.      Let us always be vigilant  in becoming well rooted  in God’s word,  so that we will recognize  the little extras  that will cause us to  “stumble backward,  be broken,  snared,  and taken captive.”

We need to live by God’s words  —  not man’s.      As Jesus tells us  in John 8:31-32,

If you abide  in My word,  then you are truly disciples of Mine;  and you shall know the truth,  and the truth  shall make you free.

As we abide  in the word of God alone,  we say,  “Hallelujah!      LORD,  Your ways are ever so good  and filled with love  and wisdom.      Let us ever abide  in Your word.”

Love,
Margaret

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A Christian devotional to glorify the LORD of lords and God of gods

 

Pray for our country.

 

This is the day which the LORD has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24

 

The word of the LORD is tried;
He is a shield  to all  who take refuge  in Him.
Psalm 18:30

 

Sing for joy in the LORD,  O you righteous ones;
Praise is becoming  to the upright.
Psalm 33:1

 

How blessed are those  who dwell in Thy house!
They are ever praising Thee.
Psalm 84:4

 

Just as a father has compassion  on his children,
So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.
Psalm 103:13

 

Oh give thanks to the LORD,  for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Psalm 107:1

 

Glory in His holy name;
Let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad.
Psalm 105:3

 

Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that
I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:12

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