Articles
Don’t Trust The Flesh!
We are living in a world of people who are more and more selfish it seems. The old
saying “The world doesn’t revolve around you” seems harder and harder for people to
understand. So, it should be no surprise, that this has taken over much of the so called “religious
world”. From pulpits across America, it is being taught that we should follow our feelings and do
what makes us happy.
In conversations, people talk much more about their own thoughts and feelings, than
about what the Bible says. Even when it comes to a Bible study or discussion, we often hear
“well I think” or “I feel that…”. In recent conversations, when shown scriptures that did not
agree with their position, I was told “Well that’s not what I believe” and “That’s not what my
church teaches”. Don’t you see the problem with that? When you get down to it, it doesn’t matter
what I think, feel, or believe if it is not based on the truth. The only place we can find absolute
truth is the Bible. “Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth” (John 17:17).
I once knew a man who got into financial trouble because he was spending all his money
on bird seed. When asked why he needed that much bird seed he said, “It was because he could
not afford buffalo feed”. When asked why he needed buffalo feed he said, “I feed the bird seed to
the buffalo in my backyard”. He believed there were buffalo, to the point he was dumping all his
money out on the ground and going without food and things he needed so he could feed buffalo
that were not roaming around his backyard.
Our minds, hearts, & flesh can be deceiving. Our thoughts, feelings, & beliefs can be
deceiving. “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to
the flesh” (Gal. 5:17). The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can
understand it” (Jer. 17:9)? “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own
under- standing. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths”
(Pro. 3:5-6).
It can start small. I know that I have even caught myself saying things like “I did what I
felt was right”. Wouldn’t it be better if we could say “I did what God said was right”?
~B Tolbert
