“TAKE CARE!”

Exodus 34:11-16                              (ESV)

“11 "Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

12 “TAKE CARE”, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst.

13 You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim

14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is JEALOUS, is a jealous GOD),

15 lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice,

16 and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods.”

Hearing it said many times that GOD is a loving god WHO wouldn’t do something as bad as this or that, I am just beginning to understand that NO MAN KNOWS what GOD will do in any specific situation.  In the Scriptures above, GOD instructs Moses to tell the children of Israel to “TAKE CARE”, lest you make a covenant with pagans and follow after their gods.  Instead of “TAKE CARE”, other translations use the words WATCH YOURSELF, BE CAREFUL, and my favorite BE VERY CAREFUL!  GOD KNEW that trusting “the enemy” couldn’t be prosperous for HIS people, but ultimately they didn’t listen to GOD and had to learn for themselves.

The children of Israel were CHOSEN because they KNEW that ALMIGHTY GOD was WHO HE said HE was, not because of their ancestry.  John 3:16 (KJV) says WHOSOEVER believes in HIM, not just JEWS!  GOD wants we who are CALLED to ONLY worship HIM, and NO OTHER gods!  HIS name is JEALOUS for a reason, HE desires, AND DESERVES, our undivided allegiance.  HE warned us to “TAKE CARE” that we don’t allow “this world” to infiltrate our lives with the god of this world and his idols.

But do I “TAKE CARE” to keep HIM on the throne of my life?  Or do I do what I think is right IN MY OWN EYES?  Judges 17:6 says “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”  If everyone is doing what is “right in his own eyes”, we had better make sure our vision is without flaw?!? Jeremiah 17:9 says “THE HEART IS DECEITFUL above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”  

We must “WATCH YOURSELF, BE CAREFUL, and BE VERY CAREFUL” that we “TAKE CARE” to make sure our enemy is not allowed to creep into our lives.  There isn’t enough room for multiple gods in a personal relationship (Matthew 6:24) because we  will be loyal to only one!  When I am at the Judgement Seat, I don’t want to be guilty of not choosing to “TAKE CARE” of the things that matter most in life, the things of GOD!!!