Beware Of Your Own Logic

We have an ability to think, to reason, to draw conclusions and act on those conclusion. We were created with a great capacity for intelligence. However, relying only on our observations can and will get us into a lot of trouble. Just because we think it doesn't make it the truth. Just because our observations bring us to a certain conclusion doesn't mean we can rely on it. Jesus never told us that we would be on our own and that it was up to us to figure things out. In fact, he told us the opposite.

Yesterday we considered how Joshua got in trouble for making assumptions instead of consulting with Yahweh. Life is fluid and things can change rapidly depending on the many individuals involved in our lives. Then right on the heels of that difficult lesson came another one that dealt with the problem of our logic. The people of Gibeon saw the writing on the wall, knew they were doomed to die at the hands of Israel, so they came up with a plan to deceive Joshua:

However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they resorted to a ruse: They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended. They put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and moldy. Joshua 9:3-5)

They had somehow heard that Israel was commanded to drive out all the nations within a certain area so they made it look as if they were a people from a distance. Joshua should have consulted with Yahweh for the truth to be revealed but instead they trusted their observations:

The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord. Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath. (vs.14-15)

We are no better, living by observation instead of by the Word of Yahweh. We see and we draw conclusions and act on those conclusions, attributing it to the will of our Father. We may even fire off a prayer or two or three but we do not wait or listen for a response, we just react to what we see. Our Lord's desires is made manifest to us in the Scriptures:

So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. (Deuteronomy 8:3)

We have to walk in his statutes, in what he says is right, not what we come up with in our own logic, our own opinions. It doesn't matter what you think according to the logic of man, all that matters is what Yahweh says on the matter. And if you do not agree then you are not a follower of Jesus Christ. You may carry the title but Jesus made it clear that if we love him we will obey him, and he is the Living Word of Yahweh, which means he is referring to all of it. We don't get to pick and choose. Simply put:

For we walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)

By faith, trusting the Word of Yahweh, and not by sight, the logic of my opinions.