09/03/2014 - BE CAREFUL WITH EVIL TIMES

• 
• 
• 
• 

For man also does not know his time: like fish taken in a cruel net, like birds caught in a snare, so the sons of men are snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them. Ecclesiastes 9.12

Man is not able to understand by himself what God or the devil has prepared for him. From the Lord, there are only good gifts. Thus, not living in communion with Him means to lack many things. Now, the devil only prepares bad things, and those who are not walking with the Most High do not understand what is waiting for them and what is behind a temptation. For that reason, we all need divine grace.

If the fish understood what a net does in the river or in the sea, they would avoid it. Now, the same would happen to those who somehow felt special and fell into the temptation of a forbidden relationship, or stole a person’s goods, and now are in suffering. Many people say that if they could go back in time, they would never do what they did. Surely, it was a lack of fearing God.

The divine revelations exist in order to be accepted. Whoever despises what the Most High reveals can be compared to someone who lacks good judgment, for this person is rejecting the advice of He who knows all and loves him truly. There are many who resist in accepting the Lord’s directions, and later, come to the conclusion that they made a bad decision. Be careful! The enemy wants to deprive you from eternal joy.

The evil net is always being set. After a great blessing, a gigantic fall may come, for the enemy does not stop walking around us, seeking whom he may devour (1 Pe 5.8). For that reason, in any situation, it is better to watch and pray, so that we may joyfully receive what comes from God. On the contrary, those who fall into Satan’s trap will have to be very strong to rise up and return to a life of communion with the Lord.

As an evil fowler, the devil sets traps to bind us in the daily activities of life. He does not want to see us singing for joy, but filled with sadness inside his cage. Therefore, if there is anything we must care for is our position in Christ. Even if we are part of the Kingdom of God, many times we forget that we also live in this world, where the evil one acts to accomplish his dirty purposes.

Therefore, it is best not to walk according to the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful, but to delight in the Law of the Lord, and in His law meditate day and night (Sl 1.1,2). The “adulterous woman” hunts for precious lives, and you are, undoubtedly, one of her potential targets (Pv 30.20). Thus, do not exchange for nothing the happiness that the Father has prepared you, so that you may enjoy it forever.

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares