Fall

Pride goes before a fall! Edom’s arrogance and cruelty against God’s people led to their doom. Obadiah teaches us that even when it seems our enemy is winning, in the end, God will always deliver His people.

The spiritual journey is not a path for those with a proud, self-satisfied swagger.

False prophets and teachers will be around until the end of time. Therefore, we need to know how to spot them. Ezekiel 13 gives us three important things to look for.

How are you doing? You, up there on the mountaintop of career. You, up there with the trophies of accomplishment. Be careful up there in the heights. The peak of victory is surrounded by a slippery slope.

Don’t deny the temptation. Take steps, like Job, to live obediently.

Ask God to check your heart. Examine your sexual temptations that lead to the sins of lust, pornography, and adultery. Examine your materialistic tendencies that lead to the sins of greed and avarice. Examine your areas of personal pride that always go before a fall. Each part of the temptation is dangerous enough.

Our spiritual flight has many ups and downs. The wind currents of life lift us up and drag us down. The atmosphere of sin causes us to stumble and fall. We grow weary from the journey and start a dangerous descent. But God is there every time. Like a mother eagle, he carries us on his all-powerful wings.

Jesus’ command to His disciples rings through the ages, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.” Moment by moment, day by day, watch and pray. Temptation is always around the corner. A fall is only a step away.