Pr. 24:11: “Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.”
I have not been able to shake this verse since I read it yesterday. My heart breaks when I think of people I know and love who are stumbling towards the slaughter. Some are walking there willingly, and others are being deceived. I want nothing more than to grab them in an embrace and lead them to the Lord. But what can I really do? I can’t make up people’s minds for them. I cannot convince them with smooth words, or even stop them with my insistence. How can I deliver them? How can I hold them back?
The fact is, I can’t. This is where I have to pray and trust that God will be able to get hold of them, to deliver them and hold them back. Maybe God can use me in some way, but the truth of the matter is, it is between them and God.
Genesis 3:4 is where the serpent convinced Eve to sin against God. “…in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Satan is still using this same tactic–telling us we will get something from the sin.
“You will know what it’s like to really feel loved.” “You will finally have peace.” “You will get what you’ve deserved for so long.” “Your pain will finally go away.” “No one will ever know.”
This is how he leads people to the slaughter. His empty promises that are actually lies in disguise. 1 Timothy 4:2 tells us that our own consciences can become seared with a hot iron. When that happens, we no longer view sin as sin. It becomes a right to which we cling. Our lives become about us, our wants, and our desires. Our lives become about what we deserve…just as Eve ‘deserved’ to have her eyes open to know good and evil in just the same way that God did.
The truth is that it is God’s will for us on this earth is to tell people about His kingdom. We can find this truth in His Word. When the focus of our lives is only our own will, then we have departed from God. God has and is all that we need, and more. All the things satan promises, are things that only God provides. Satan has wanted to be like God from the beginning, so he tries to promise what only God can give, but his path only leads to pain, destruction, and death.
Knowing this, my heart breaks that people I love are being led to the slaughter. Oh, how I long to open their eyes! God, please open their eyes. Holy Spirit, please bring back to their remembrance the truth of Your Word. Lead them away from death, and hold them back from the slaughter, dear Lord, I pray. In Jesus’ saving name, Amen.
Trusting,
jamie
considering the word 