Solomon's mother advised him not to give his strength unto women. He ignored this advice and his wives turned away his heart after other gods.
Man must spend his strength on things that matter. In doing so, we must focus our efforts upon the right things while working through and by God's power.
The soul that sins shall bear his iniquity. How does a man bear his iniquity? The answer is quite simple: by suffering the consequences of those sins.
Far too many people have forsaken the simplicity which is in Christ and have instead pursued the complexity and labour of religion (2 Corinthians 11:3).
Paul was one of the most religious people ever to live. In spite of his religious efforts, he was condemned to hell until he trusted Christ as Saviour.
Why would the Lord invite those weary from labour to wear a yoke? And then, why would the Lord promise rest by inviting people to labour?
How would making your motive match the Lord's motive change how you approach the Christian life (from witnessing to praying to Bible reading and so on)?
The Bible introduces the apostle Paul as he was expending all of his energies to persecute the church of God. Yet, once the Lord saved him, he spent the remainder of his life attentively protecting the testimony of the ministry. Paul was in a unique position that would have enabled him to give the ministry a bad name (see the things he faced as mentioned in 2 Corinthians 11:23-30). Instead, he worked hard to give “no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed.” He proved himself as the minister of God. Unfortunately, fewer and fewer men today are exhibiting the level of character expected of them by God. Far too many preachers of the gospel are living their lives with little concern for how it impacts the ministry and the cause of Christ..
Believers are not to speak, look, think, or act like the world. In every way possible, believers are to remain separate and distinct. Believers saved for any length of time have noticed the drastic shift in what the world defines as acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. For instance, man in general once disdained the idea of tattoos, body piercings, and cuttings in the flesh (Leviticus 19:28). Yet, now these things are not only acceptable but even practiced by believers. The world used to distinguish between men and women, even taking note of one’s hair length (1 Corinthians 11:14-15). Yet these distinctions have been blurred and in some cases eliminated with men attempting to become women and women men. The people of God are not to follow along with cultural shifts, but abide rather in the unchangeable words of God.
Many people are quite zealous of following the traditions of men. For instance, the apostle Paul was so exceedingly zealous of the traditions of his fathers that he “persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women” (Acts 22:4). This same act has been true throughout church history. History reveals that many saints of God were severely punished and even put to death for rejecting unscriptural traditions such as infant baptism. In some cases, babies were ripped from the arms of their mothers and cast into lakes and rivers. Others were tossed into arenas with lions for rejecting traditions choosing to hold up scripture. Why? Because men are zealous of their traditions and will persecute to keep their ways intact!
