Where Do Our Loyalties Lie?

"The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe"(Prov. 29:25). A snare is a trap. When we pay heed to the words of man over the wisdom of God, we set ourselves up for a fall; we make ourselves the bait in a trap. It is only a matter of time before such trust will turn against us and betray us. "Trusting in the LORD" means loving His will, doing what the LORD says to do in the way the LORD says to do it. It means respecting the LORD'S desires more than our own, more than our wife's or husband's opinion, more than any loved one's opinions. 

And it means that preserving the Body of Christ is uppermost in our hearts. But such preservation does not mean protecting the church as if she were a club. Oh, no! She breathes the air of the Spirit, and strolls the pathway called Christ! It's not just the believers whom we are to love, but the believer's Savior! Oswald Chambers puts it so well:

Fearless devotion to Jesus Christ ought to mark the saint today, but more often it is devotion to our set that marks us. We are more concerned about being in agreement with Christians than about being in agreement with God. (Run Today's Race)

Oh, let us make sure our loyalties lie with God on all matters. Let us pastors be careful of the pride of place or position, but let us in love serve one another. Let the church also be adamant in our Spirit-service to Jesus Christ, not wanting anything to interpose itself between us and our dear Lord. Let us never become diverted from the "truth as it is in Jesus" (Eph. 4:21). 

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