2nd Kings 6:25-30, “And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver. And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king. And he said, If the LORD do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow. So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son. And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh.”
Proverbs 1:10, “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.”
I was listening to the King James Bible today, from the Old Testament book of 2nd Kings. I love the Old Testament. I agree with Evangelist Lester Roloff (1914-1982) who said that the Old Testament will put iron into your blood. He is speaking spiritually, of course. Romans 15:4 says, “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” Please don't miss that truth dear friend, God gave us the Old Testament FOR OUR LEARNING. Amen.
As I was listening to this disturbing passage today, I became infuriated at the wicked woman who said to a stranger: “Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow.” That evil stranger had no intention of ever killing and eating her own son. She was a pathetic manipulative liar, and as far as I am concerned. demon inspired. Can you image someone being so evil that they would even try to convince you to murder, cook and then help eat your own child? That is exactly what the wicked woman did, but she lied and after eating the other woman's child, fled with her own child. She took advantage of a stranger. It's not hard to understand why so many people in the world hate people.
When I was about 7 or 8 years old, I was walking to the grocery store one day with my friend Bobby. He tempted me to steal a small carton of chocolate milk. Now, God knows my heart, that such a wicked thought had never once entered into my mind. I know for a fact that as a good kid I never would have tried to steal that milk, had my so-called “friend” not taunted, tempted and pressured me to do it. At first I refused to do it. But Bobby started calling me a “chicken.” So I relented and did it under pressure from Bobby to steal.
But I got caught. The store owner stopped me and said: “Son, open that bag,” and I did and he saw the chocolate milk. The elderly man said I was not allowed to come back into his store until he talked with my mother, and he asked me for her phone number, and as an otherwise honest boy I gave it to him. On the way home I kindly asked Bobby to please not tell anybody about the incident. Bobby was so rotten and evil (also about age 7 or 8) that when we arrived home, he literally ran throughout the neighborhood hollering: “David got caught stealing from Johnny Joes! David got caught stealing from Johnny Joes!” I was crying. My grandma was crying. My mother was upset when the store owner, Johnny, called her.
From that day forward, I never once stepped foot into Johnny Joes' store again, because I was too ashamed of what I had done. I walked to other grocery stores in the area, some a few blocks farther away, so I wouldn't have to face the stigma and shame of being a thief, all because my crooked ungodly “friend” Bobby pressured me to steal that chocolate milk one day. Bobby was a low character boy, and I fell for his trap.
The good thing is that I learned some lasting character lessons from that painful incident:
- There's no such thing as a “friend” who entices you to do something wrong. Proverbs 1:10, “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.” Bobby was never a true friend.
- I never should have succumbed to Bobby's enticing words. He was an evil influence. If someone today were to ask me to do something wrong, I would tell them to: “Get the hell away from me!”; and you do the same dear reader if someone entices you to do evil.
- When you do wrong, evil people will rub your face in it. Proverb:22:1, “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.” Always protect your name and innocence. What Bobby did was evil. It was his idea in the first place and he pressured me to steal, and when I did and got caught he went and told everybody in a malicious effort to destroy my reputation. To run through the neighborhood tearing down someone whom you enticed to do evil is ten times more evil.
- Ultimately, I have no one to blame but myself for what I did that day. In our text passage from 2nd Kings, that foolish mother who killed, boiled and ate her child with a complete stranger who enticed her to do it, has no one to blame but herself. She ran crying to the king begging for justice, but she did that to herself and her own child. And worse, she had to live with that regret for the rest of her life.
- People will entice you to do wrong, but you alone will suffer the consequences. That woman's baby is dead, but the other woman still has her baby. People will manipulate lie and take advantage of you if you are weak and foolish. That is why I have and always will reject Medicare Advantage Plans. All they are is greedy private insurance companies wanting to screw you out of your due benefits. They're a bunch of dirty thieves! I have to live with getting caught stealing for the rest of my life. Bobby didn't get caught, I did. He convinced me to do something wrong, and I succumbed to his Satanic mouth. I suffered the consequences alone, but nothing bad happened to him.
- The people who entice you to do wrong will disappear from your life. That foolish mother never saw or heard from that evil stranger again, the wicked woman who pressured her to boil her child; just like the evil serpent who ruined Eve's life in the Paradise of Eden, and then was never seen or heard from again. I have no idea where Bobby is today, and I really couldn't care less. His father was a Chicago police officer who used to physically beat his wife. I'd see her working at Jewel food store, in the deli, with a black eye. Bobby is probably no better.
Though The Stars Fall, Do Right!
Dr. Bob Jones Sr. (1883-1968) taught that truth, and he preached it often. Though the stars fall, do right! There's nothing to weight, consider or ponder, if it's wrong I'm not going to do it. Prisons are full of fools who allowed someone else to entice or pressure them to break the law. People will entice you to do something wrong, and when you do they'll blackmail you to do something else wrong, or threaten you that they'll go to the police. That is how small crimes lead to big ones.
“All things truly wicked start from innocence.” —Ernest Hemingway
“If you want to never do anything that is terribly wicked, then you never do anything that is slightly wicked.” —Pastor Jack Hyles, "Unjust In The Least"
I live by these precious quotes and truths today. Throughout your life you will meet evil people who have no problem skirting the law, breaking the rules and doing what is wrong.
I used to work with a shady man at the U.S. Postal Service about 20 years ago, who would go to lunch without clocking out. He'd work out at the gym while on the clock getting paid. He stole boxes of toilet paper from the post office. I stayed away from him! His wife (that he swindled from her husband) was a devout Roman Catholic. I shared the gospel with him and he claimed that I had led him to the Lord. So, he went around the workplace telling everyone that he was a Baptolic (half Baptist, half Catholic). I have no idea if he really got born again or not. Only he knows that. I am not condemning the guy, because we are all wicked sinners. My point is that he was a bad influence, so I maintained my distance from him, lest I go down with him if he ever got caught. To my knowledge he never did. What saith the Scripture? 1st Timothy 5:24, “Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.”
Dear reader, by God's grace I implore you to become vigilant in this matter of not allowing wicked people to entice you to do something wrong. Teenagers especially, be vigilant in this matter of being truthful, chaste and righteous. Temptations abound for youth today. As we grow older not so much. I'm just an old man living a boring life, and I like it that way.
These Are Perilous Times
We are living in a greedy culture today of ungodly people who couldn't care less about loving one's neighbor as thyself. My dog Miss Pickles peed blood on the floor at PetSmart yesterday. The vet charged me $112 for a urine analysis and another $136 for some antibiotics ($258 total). A cat had also scratched her eye on Friday and that cost me $182 for a stain test and some antibiotic eye drops earlier in the day yesterday. I checked online for pricing. For just 4 ounces of sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim (antibiotics) liquid, the vet charged me $146. I found it online (only veterinarians can buy it; $20.45 for 16 ounces). So, for what costs them $20.45, they charge their customers $584! I see this greed everywhere I go today. Matthew 24:12, “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”
All in all, I am thankful that Miss Pickles seems to be doing better. The urine analysis showed white blood cells and bladder cells present, which the doctor said is likely either a UTI (Urinal Tract Infection), or possibly early signs of cancer. The dog is 5 years old as of January. She has gotten hold of a Little Debbie fudge brownie the day before, which I read online can caused digestive bleeding; but the vet said he didn't think that was the problem.
The Stain Test confirmed that the cat scratched her left cornea. There's a spiritually dead Presbyterian church a block away from my house. I've never seen more than 3 or 4 people present. Someone at the church feeds the cat, and there's a bowl of water. So I call it the “Presbyterian cat.” When I was walking Miss Pickles Friday evening, she ran ahead (her leash is about 15 feet long). She ran around the corner of the church building and I heard a loud yelp, and she came running back. When I turned the corner I saw the black cat, who hadn't budged until she saw me. She had clobbered Miss Pickles before I could see what was going on! Thankfully, the doctor said her eye seems to be healing well. No more cats!
Miss Pickles didn't pee blood this morning on her pee pads in the living room by her portable playpen. I'll be giving her liquid antibiotics for the next 14 days, and eye drops in her left eye for 7 days. She wouldn't allow me to put the syringe in her mouth, so I mixed her antibiotics with a tablespoon of yogurt, which the nurse said I could do. The dog likes that. Lord willing, she'll be back to normal. I also had her groomed yesterday, since it is hot and humid outside. I got her the shortest number 10 haircut. And they cleaned her teeth. That cost $122. I also have three Zebra finches, and I bought some Millet and liners for them yesterday at PetSmart. It all came out to about $600. Praise the Lord! It was a hectic day, especially for Miss Pickles.
I took this photo of her last night at the animal hospital...
Miss Pickles
In these perilous times people don't care about their neighbours like they should, charging as much money as they possibly can just because they can, God is still faithful.
God's free gift of eternal life is still 100% free, completely paid for by the precious blood of Jesus. Don't you dare believe any lying preacher who says you must be willing to forsake your sinful bad habits to get to Heaven, because that is works (Jonah 3:10). Christ died on a cross 2,000 years ago to pay for our sins, because there is nothing that we can do to remedy the situation. The very idea of having to be willing to turn from your sins to be saved is preposterous, because NO ONE has ever done so. The true Gospel always points you to CHRIST; a false gospel always points to YOU. If salvation is truly by grace, then you don't need to start or stop anything to be saved. Eternal life is a free gift from God (Romans 6:23).
Thank you sincerely for reading my ministry blog. God is good and faithful.
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