ESOCS Devotional 22 January 2025 – The Peril of the Wilful
MEMORY VERSE: “But ye said, no; for we will flee upon horses; therefore, shall ye flee: and, we will ride upon the swift; therefore, shall they that pursue you be swift”. Isaiah 30:16
TEXT: ISAIAH 30:1–17
“Woe to the rebellious children,” says the Lord,
“Who take counsel, but not of Me,
And who devise plans, but not of My Spirit,
That they may add sin to sin;
2 Who walk to go down to Egypt,
And have not asked My advice,
To strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh,
And to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
3 Therefore the strength of Pharaoh
Shall be your shame,
And trust in the shadow of Egypt
Shall be your humiliation.
4 For his princes were at Zoan,
And his ambassadors came to Hanes.
5 They were all ashamed of a people who could not benefit them,
Or be help or benefit,
But a shame and also a reproach.”
6 The burden against the beasts of the South.
Through a land of trouble and anguish,
From which came the lioness and lion,
The viper and fiery flying serpent,
They will carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys,
And their treasures on the humps of camels,
To a people who shall not profit;
7 For the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose.
Therefore I have called her
[c]Rahab-Hem-Shebeth.
8 Now go, write it before them on a tablet,
And note it on a scroll,
That it may be for time to come,
Forever and ever:
9 That this is a rebellious people,
Lying children,
Children who will not hear the law of the Lord;
10 Who say to the seers, “Do not see,”
And to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us right things;
Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits.
11 Get out of the way,
Turn aside from the path,
Cause the Holy One of Israel
To cease from before us.”
12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel:
“Because you despise this word,
And trust in oppression and perversity,
And rely on them,
13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you
Like a breach ready to fall,
A bulge in a high wall,
Whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant.
14 And He shall break it like the breaking of the potter’s vessel,
Which is broken in pieces;
He shall not spare.
So there shall not be found among its fragments
A shard to take fire from the hearth,
Or to take water from the cistern.”
15 For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:
“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”
But you would not,
16 And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses”—
Therefore you shall flee!
And, “We will ride on swift horses”—
Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift!
17 One thousand shall flee at the threat of one,
At the threat of five you shall flee,
Till you are left as a pole on top of a mountain
And as a banner on a hill.
Read Other ESOCS Devotional Here
We will – that’s the origin of man’s sin. That is not a fit position for dependent man ever to take. “They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare” (1 Tim 6:9); “Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain For that ye ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that” (James 4:13-16). From some points of view, these strong-willed men may be regarded as the noble men of earth. They have a purpose in life, which holds in and guides, as with bit and bridle, all the forces of their being. They are the great men in our mills and warehouses; the foremost as statesmen, and in carrying out great social and national enterprises. They seem to have a power of control over all the circumstances surrounding them, and a power of recoil from the greatest disappointments and disasters. Yet, this disposition lays men open to peculiar dangers. Strong will is liable to become self-will – to refuse the ordinance of God; to refuse the help of God; to refuse to wait on God. It stands up in fancied majesty and says, “I will.” “Whatever God may say or do, I will. I will be rich, I will be successful, I will be great.” When a man in such a spirit says, “I will,” he is on the very pit-edge, and on the pit-edge blindfolded.
Wilfulness is Rebelliousness: Because man is God’s servant, pledged to carry out his Master’s will, and not his own will. Man is God’s child, and in duty bound to fulfil his Father’s commands. Disobedience is rebellion.
Wilfulness is Weakness: Man is entirely dependent on the God whose will he refuses, and the means of accomplishing what he determines to do is with God. His wilfulness is as weak as a child’s, who has no money, no power, but depends entirely on his parents.
Wilfulness is Foolishness: For it is setting ourselves against the Almighty God, as if He would allow us to shift and rearrange His plans. Man’s wilfulness may make a noise, and bring him into trouble; but it is only a child’s attempt to hold back the flowing of the great river of God. A little time of vain trying, and then the child is swept away by the flood, which still rolls on.
Wilfulness is Peril: It will be a marvel, almost a miracle, if such a man does not “fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.”
CHALLENGES
- Wait and ponder, that decision you intend to take, does it have Gods approval?
PRAYER POINT
- Father gives us the heart to always rely on you in every decision of life. Amen.
FURTHER READING: Isaiah 30:18-end; Matthew 14:1-end
ESOCS Devotional 22 January 2025
