Fence Walking

Verse of the day: Numbers 23:12 So he answered and said, “Must I not take heed to speak what the LORD has put in my mouth?”

Balaam is truly an interesting character. On the one hand, he is a man whom God speaks to, and who communicates God’s message just as God gives it to him; yet, on the other hand, he is a man whose lust for the world’s gain is what is at the forefront of his mind. Sadly, there are far too many of us who fit this category. We desire to serve God on the one hand, but far too often give in to the desires of the flesh. In Matthew 26:40-41, when Jesus was praying in the Garden and returned to find His disciples sleeping (when they should have been praying) said this to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” This battle of the spirit and the flesh is one that we face every day of our lives. The desire of the disciples, spiritually speaking, was to stay awake and pray. Yet, the overpowering weakness of their flesh caused them to sleep. So it is with us that the desires of our flesh can cause us to easily override our desire to do what is right in our everyday service to God. This is the reason that it is of utmost importance that we put on the spiritual armor God has provided for us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 6). Not only must we consciously put on our spiritual armor, but we must also put on the new man. We must do all we can to put off the old man by not walking in the same manner in which we did before we came to know Christ (Galatians 4). This means that we must replace what we used to do with what God now expects us to do. The Apostle Paul tells us what the character of the new man is in Colossians 3:12-14, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.” Romans 13:13-14 puts it this way, “Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” Galatians 5 addresses the issue of the battle between the spirit and the flesh. The only way to avoid losing the battle to our fleshly desires is to give room for the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, to produce His fruit in our lives. The Apostle Paul writes very clearly that there is a raging war between the spirit and the flesh in Galatians 5:16-17, which reads, “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” Galatians 5:22-23 goes on to tell us, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” We must take up our cross daily, as Jesus told us in Luke 9:23. Galatians 5:24 tells us that those of us who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Balaam was a man who walked the fence when it came to being a prophet. It seems that Balaam’s fear of God drove him to speak only that which God put in his mouth, concerning Israel. Although he claimed to be a faithful servant in speaking God’s Words, his desire for that which was earthly drove his life and his morals was contradictory. We must be careful not to become “fence-walkers”. The hypocrisy that comes from saying one thing, but then doing what is contrary is a great weapon in the devils’ hands to make our testimony for the Lord ineffective, in our attempts to win others to Christ. Let us not be like those who profess to know God, but in their works deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work (Titus 1:16). God would prefer that we either be cold or hot for Him, and not lukewarm, which He loathes (Revelation 3:16).

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).