Daily Devotions
Coming Out of Babylon
Reading for December 29th: Revelation 15-17
Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,
"Come out of her, my people,
lest you take part in her sins,
lest you share in her plagues;
for her sins are heaped high as heaven,
and God has remembered her iniquities."
Revelation 18:4-5
I've been reading a book by a professional marriage counselor, something I've honestly never done before. Though there have been some good things in it, there has also been some advice that has been downright disturbing. This professional advises some things (which I refuse to mention in this devotion!) which go directly against biblical commands and principles.
This shouldn't surprise me. I should know that since we are called to a much higher standard of love and commitment in Christ there ought to be a big contrast. Our thinking has been challenged and transformed by the cross of Christ. Our thinking in Christ should run counter to worldly thinking.
This experience has reminded me of the danger of books written by men. While there are some things I can learn from the accumulated wisdom of men, there is always a danger in it. While human beings can learn some things by simple observation of the way the world works, there are other truths that are hidden from their eyes because they reject the Source of all wisdom and knowledge (Col 2:2-3). For that reason, I should read human authors with a degree of caution, always balancing and critiquing what I read from God's Word.
Coming out of Babylon is not something we do physically. (Indeed, it is impossible to do so!) Let us not forget that the battle is for the mind, and it is our mind that we must protect with all vigilance (Prov 4:23).
Father, fill us with your wisdom and protect us from the deceptive philosophies that dominate and permeate this age.
