“If a prophet or someone who has dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you, 2 and that sign or wonder he has promised you comes about, but he says, ‘Let us follow other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us worship them,’ 3 do not listen to that prophet’s words or to that dreamer. For the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul. 4 You must follow the Lord your God and fear Him. You must keep His commands and listen to His voice; you must worship Him and remain faithful[a] to Him. 5 That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he has urged rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the place of slavery, to turn you from the way the Lord your God has commanded you to walk. You must purge the evil from you.
-Deuteronomy 13:1-5 (HCSB)
I must admit, the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy is not a book of the Bible I tend to try and find things to blog about from. But, as I logged into biblegateway.com, the verse of the day was Deuteronomy 13:4. I like to read verses in context, so I looked up Deuteronomy 13:1-5. While these verses are meant for the nation of Israel, as they were about to take possession of the land they were promised by God, I believe there is a personal application that pertains to you and me, even today.
How many times do we put someone's credentials on a high scale than their abilities? That's the idea behind these verses. Verse 1-2 gives us a scenario. "If a prophet or someone who dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you, and that sign or wonder he has promised you comes about, but he says,'Let us follow other gods,' which you have not known, 'and let us worship them,'" What they are being challenged with is how to tell the difference between a true prophet of God and a false one. If someone would come into their community and shows them a sign or wonder of God, and it comes true, but fails to lead them toward God, but away unto false god's, then that person is a false prophet. On the other hand, if a prophet comes in, proclaims a sign or wonder, it comes true, and the prophet leads them in worship and following God, the only true God, then that prophet is a true prophet of God. For today, how many times do we follow preachers and teachers of the Word of God because of their credentials? Just because a pastor, preacher or evangelist has the title of "Doctor" in their name doesn't mean they are a true pastor, preacher or evangelist of God. Instead of looking at their credentials, we must look at their message. Does the message line up with what God has proclaimed in His Word? If not, then they are a false pastor, preacher or evangelist.
Verse 4 says, "You must follow the Lord your God and fear Him. You must keep His commands and listen to His voice; you must worship Him and remain faithful to Him." To live the life God expects, you must follow Him. You must fear God, you must listen to His voice, you must keep His commands, you must worship Him, you must remain faithful to Him. Failure to do any of these things listed will mean failure in the Christian life. How can you follow God without listening to His voice or keep His commands? It can't be done.
Instead of following a pastor, preacher or teacher, follow the One true God. Are you just following the message of a pastor because of the credentials they have? Think About It.
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