Disobedience Kills

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DAILY VITAMIN
- Disobedience Kills
"But [Neco] sent ambassadors to [Josiah], saying, What have I to do with you, you king of Judah? I come not against you this day, but against the house with which I am at war; and God has commanded me to make haste. Refrain from opposing God, Who is with me, lest He destroy you. Yet Josiah would not turn away from him, but disguised himself in order to fight with him. He did not heed the words of Neco from the mouth of God, but came to fight with him in the valley of Megiddo. And the archers shot King Josiah, and the king said to his servants, Take me away, for I am severely wounded". (2 Chronicles 35:21-23 AMP)

Nothing ruins a man before God faster than disobedience. It doesn't matter what our identities are, disobedience will make any man fall. Look at the first men, Adam and Eve, made in the perfect beauty of the Lord's love and rooted in His endless blessings, but because of this fatal flaw they lost everything that was theirs for the taking.
The same can be said of the young prophet from Judah in 2 Chronicles 13 who but for a simple act of disobedience could have been remembered as a man who stunned Samaria for God, not just one that was buried in it. A simple act that had a complex irreparable consequence.
However, I'd like us to focus more on Josiah today. Josiah was so much loved by God. His birth and conquest over darkness were prophesied of God years before they happened. He also enjoyed a stint of peace; nevertheless because he wouldn't listen to God's will he brought a war to his house that cut short his life. Josiah could easily have lived for a long time. He loved God and sold out himself to God in service; but for disobedience didn't make it to forty.
What's the story here? You can be a believer and yet still put yourself in the devil's trap. Every time we disobey God, we put ourselves up for ruins. That's why God values and demands our obedience; not because it benefits Him, but contrary to that because it benefits us (Deut 10:13). I have seen many great people of God get wasted because they did everything right but obey. Remember, God is only committed to whatever is in line with His will. So when you get so overzealous like Josiah to act out what you think is right, always know that because something seems right doesn't make it right. Therefore, do what Josiah never did. Learn from David who always "..enquired of the Lord" before any pursuit (see 1 Sam 30:7-8).
Gusto is good, and the eagerness to act towards progress is great, but direction is better, and this only is established in obedience. Zeal is divine, but at the expense of obedience to God, it can be dangerous. Don't let impulse rule you, let obedience; because the lack of it exposes you to problems that were never yours to bear in the first place. Hence, receive grace today to continually stay in a walk of obedience with God. Amen.


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