1 kings 12-13

^{Ch 13v18} The old prophet answered, “I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the Lord: ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” (But he was lying to him.) ¹⁹ So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house.

God gives us clear directions for how to live our lives in the bible, yet following them as broken and flawed humans seems to be a bit of a challenge.  Here a man of God who had received messages directly from God and clearly understood what they were was still able to be convinced to go against those directions by someone trying to deceive him. 

I'm thinking in his heart he knew what he was doing was wrong, but his physical desire for some food and water allowed him to rationalize that this other prophet was speaking the truth so it was ok to go against what God had told him. 

How often do I allow outside influences to close to where I have weakness in my faith resulting in me to sin against God?  I bet more than I realize.  Just yesterday I had some good experiences with the person that frustrates me at work which then deteriorates into me saying or acting in away that is negative.  I had prayed for this in the morning, but how did I respond?  I shared the nice e-mail I received with someone and dismissed the positive response as not genuine.  It wasn't until writing this moments ago that I realized possibly God had given me an opening to improve this relationship that. I realized I may have missed an opportunity.

My goal is to have my heart open for all the times God is talking directly to me or giving me opportunities to help myself.

knut