There are two small words here which give God a very big problem. These two small words give God such a big problem that He has to regard His people as unclean, impure, and even filthy! These two small but very fearful words of which we ought to be extremely wary are: ‘their own.’
We give God a very big problem when we go our own way, in fact we make ourselves filthy when we make decisions our own way; when we do our own thing or claim ownership of all that is given to us by Him in the first place. In fact God says that we defile or pollute our ‘land’ (lives) by our own way.
It is possible that we may fear the LORD whilst going our own way or worshipping another god/s: “They feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence.” II Kgs.17:33
On the back fold of today’s newsletter we have the beautiful Hymn, Have Thine Own Way Lord written by Adelaide A. Pollard, (1862-1934). In 1902, Adelaide was hoping to go to Africa as a missionary but found herself unable to raise the needed funds to make the journey. Greatly discouraged, she attended a prayer service one evening and as she sat there, she overheard an elderly woman say “It really doesn't matter what you do with us, Lord, just have your own way with our lives.” The elderly woman inspired Pollard and she contemplated the story of the potter from Jeremiah 18:3 and, upon her return home that evening, wrote all four stanzas before retiring for the night. LET US PRAY that we do not have our own way but that GOD “HAVE HIS OWN WAY! In Shiloh Tabernacle”
Redemption Hymnal no. 573 Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way! Thou art the Potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me after Thy will, While I am waiting, yielded and still. Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!Search me and try me, Master, today! Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now, As in Thy presence humbly I bow. Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!Wounded and weary, help me, I pray! Power, all power, surely is Thine! Touch me and heal me, Savior divine. Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!Hold o’er my being absolute sway! Fill with Thy Spirit ’till all shall see Christ only, always, living in me. |