Punta Gorda Seventh-day Adventist Church

Scripture: “When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. 10There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. 13You shall be blameless before the Lord your God. 14For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not appointed such for you. (Deuteronomy 18:9-14 NKJV)

Observation: As strange as it may seem, this is the reason why God ordered the Israelites to destroy and obliterate the people living in the Promised Land, because if they didn’t, the Israelites would end up adopting their customs and practices and would end up worshiping other gods.  The sad reality is that that’s exactly what ended up happening, which is the reason God had to allow them to be taken into captivity and eventually had to establish the church in their place.

Application: While the saying goes, “While in Rome, do as Romans do,” that is not what we ought to do with our lives and with our children lest they pick up the customs of the people and end up idolaters and lost.  This is the reason why we are told to guard the senses, which are the avenues to the mind.

A Prayer You May Say: Father, may You bless us with Your protection and may You bless our children with your direction.

Used by permission of Adventist Family Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.