Gods Sabbath

362

E NTERING INTO G OD ’ S S ABBATH R EST

yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be re stored and you will be cleansed.’” 2Kings 5:10.

When the Lord communicates His orders to us If the Lord has appointed us a role, we will find that a plan of action devoid of any of our own devising forms in our minds. It will impress us with its simplicity and perfection, but we are not to jump to the immediate conclusion that it is from God, for it is also possible that Satan has suggested it. We may find it hard to believe that Satan has this power, or that God would permit him to use it. But the fact is that he does have it, and the Lord does not stop him from using it. Proof of this is provided in Christ’s life when, on the mount of tempta tion, Satan came to Him in the guise of an angel from heaven with a plan that seemed to be the answer to His problem. He suggested to the famished One to turn the stones of the desert into bread in order to escape starvation (see Matthew 4:1–3). Christ tested this plan in order to determine its origin, and very quickly recognized that the supposed angel from heaven was, in fact, Satan. Even though tempted, Christ resisted this invitation by rejecting the plan entirely. Only those directives which emanated from His Father in heaven would He obey. All other schemes were given no place in His life. So we need to understand that, when we commit our problem to God and a plan forms in our mind, this solution can be either of divine or satanic origin. It is either the real thing or the coun terfeit. We do not need to feel guilty or ashamed about this. If our plan is from Satan, that does not mean that we are evil, on ly that we are tempted. Christ was likewise tempted, but He never sinned. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.” Hebrews 4:15. It is not a sin to be tempted; only if we yield to the temptation. If our plan is of Satan, then, even though initially it may seem to do much good, it will only produce great harm to us eventually and to God’s cause. Therefore it is essential for us to reject the plan if it is not from God, but to carry it out if it is of divine origin.