Today’s devotion comes from Deuteronomy 32:28-33.
“28 “For they are a nation lacking in counsel,
And there is no understanding in them.
29 “Would that they were wise, that they understood this,
That they would discern their future!
30 “How could one chase a thousand,
And two put ten thousand to flight,
Unless their Rock had sold them,
And the Lord had given them up?
31 “Indeed their rock is not like our Rock,
Even our enemies themselves judge this.
32 “For their vine is from the vine of Sodom,
And from the fields of Gomorrah;
Their grapes are grapes of poison,
Their clusters, bitter.
33 “Their wine is the venom of serpents,
And the deadly poison of cobras.” Deuteronomy 32:28-33.
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Today’s Scripture leads us to consider our counsel, our produce, and our Rock.
Is our counsel like Israel’s counsel which is a “nation lacking in counsel, And there is no understanding in them”? Verse 28.
Is our produce like Israel’s produce which are “grapes of poison, Their clusters, bitter. Their wine is the venom of serpents, And the deadly poison of cobras”? Verses 32 and 33.
Is our Rock like Israel’s rock? “Indeed their rock is not like our Rock, Even our enemies themselves judge this.” Verse 31.
Before we get smug and just simply deny it, maybe our counsel, produce, and Rock are not so easily identifiable.
It is easy for us to be like a chameleon, an animal who easily changes color to match and hide in its environment. With diversity our primary mantra, our counsel, produce, and rock change to please (or at least not offend) those people that we are around.
The result of these fleeting changes is that at best we do not have any identifiable counsel, produce, and rock.
Many with Reformed background have caved into evangelical or social causes pressures to lose their Reformed salt. They blend into the evangelicals: “All I care about is Christ and bringing in converts.” Then, they blend and get lost in the latest social cause.
Certainly, we can and should have these concerns and do these things. But, if we, the Reformed, don’t preach and teach Reformed doctrine, then who is going to do it? If we switch back and forth so often, what indeed are our counsel, produce, and Rock?
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.” Matthew 5:13.
We should heed the message of the angel to the church in Laodicea: “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.” Revelation 3:15-16.
In conclusion, we are on the brink of a new year. It is a good time to examine our counsel, produce, and Rock. Are we going to be content to be chameleons and tasteless salt in 2015? Or, are our counsel, produce, and Rock going to be identifiable and consistent with our Reformed faith?
Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions 