1 Corinthians 10:1
Now I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, all passed through the sea.
1 Corinthians 10:3-5
3 They all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. 5 But God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the desert.
1 Corinthians 10:11-13
11 Now these things happened to them as examples, and they were written as a warning to us, on whom the ends of the ages have come. 12 Therefore, whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall! 13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape, so that you are able to bear it.
Related Text:
Exodus 14
Exodus 17:1-7
Exodus 32
John 6
Hebrews 2:9-18
James 1:12-15
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Break the Cycle
Some people think the Old Testament is boring. I don’t think so Dave! Although I will grant you that sometimes it seems to be repetitive. For instance, the Israelites seem to keep going through a cycle of worshiping the One True God, then they forget about Him for a while, then they start worshiping all of these other foreign gods. They quit listening to God, and live in every kind of sin and disobedience. Then something drastic happens. God allows something to happen that shows them what life would really be
like without Him. They are punished, they are captured, and they aren’t allowed to enter the Promised Land for a while.
So they go through these periods without God’s protection and blessing and they realize how stupid they were to ever leave or doubt Him in the first place. So what do they do? They return to God, praising Him and worshiping Him and Him alone. Great! But here’s where it gets repetitive, they always seem to forget about how God rescued them and blessed them, so they stumble back into the same old sin and disobedience. (That’s odd, the Old Testament sounds like a picture of OUR lives sometimes)
We go through the same stuff in our own lives. We all have those times when we lose focus on God for whatever reason. But we have to remember all that He has done for us, all of His promises, and everything that He is capable of. He tells us that He’ll give us the tools to overcome whatever temptation tries to smash us in the face. We have no excuses, God is greater and more powerful than anything this world can throw at us. (John 16:33, 1 John 4:4)
We need to tap into His peace and His love and His strength. His everything! Don’t ever forget what God has done for you. And if you read this and can’t think of a single thing God has done for you, then remember this. While all of us were sinners, having nothing whatsoever to do with God, He allowed Jesus to die for our sins so that we could have forgiveness, have a relationship with almighty God, and have an eternal life in Heaven praising the One who rescued us from death. He gave up His son to die for you so that you can live for Him!
