Daily Jewel

by Pastor Carnell, Mcalester, OK

“Follow the Real Leader”
"My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them." – Proverbs 1:10 (NIV)

Key word, Entice: "To lead or attract by arousing one's sense of pleasure."
,br /> When I was in the third grade I learned a great lesson, BE CAREFUL WHOM YOU FOLLOW! We lived near a little town in the Ozarks of Southwest Missouri. During a recess break several of us decided to go down into a ravine where there was a creek. We all knew that this area was off-limits yet being children (and eight-yealr-old boys at that) the allure of the creek was greater than our ability to obey. Besides, Dennis, the leader of this third grade rebellion assured us that we would not get in trouble and so we believed him. Little did we know that the entire time our teacher had her eye on us and was witnessing our act of disobedience.
There is a host of “Dennis’s” out there. Those who pursue mischievous activities and would like nothing more than having others follow them in their deeds. And why you ask? What do they gain from it? For the most part, those who engage into sinful, rebellious activities do not like to do them alone and will do their best to persuade others to join in with them. They attempt to make the [sinful] activity alluring and pleasing. They appeal to one’s sense of pleasure, making it easier to follow.
Do you remember the tempter’s words to Eve as he was attempting to lead her into a life of sin? “Did God really say, ‘you must not eat from any tree in the garden?’” To Eve’s credit, she responded correctly, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” She should have left the conversation at that point, but she didn’t. The serpent then gave the line that we have been following since—“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Essentially, this is the line that “you won’t get in trouble!”
Here is one of my favorite illustrations that follows along this line. Once a spider built a beautiful web in an old house. He kept it clean and attractive so that flies would patronize it. The very minute he got a "customer" he would clean up on him so the other flies would not get suspicious.
Then, one day, this fairly intelligent fly came buzzing by the clean spider web. Old man spider called out, "Come and sit." But the fairly intelligent fly said, "No, sir. I don't see any other flies in your house and I'm not going in alone!" But, presently he saw on the floor below a large crowd of flies dancing around on a piece of brown paper. He was delighted! He was not afraid if lots of other flies were doing it. So he came in for a landing.
Just before he landed, a bee zoomed by and said to him, "Don't land there, stupid! That's fly paper...you'll get stuck and die!" But the fairly intelligent fly shouted back, "Don't be silly! Those flies are dancing and having a good time. There's a big crowd there. Everybody's doing it. That many flies can't all be wrong!"
Well, you know what happened. He was caught! Some folks want so much to be with the crowd that they end up in a mess. What does it profit a fly if he escapes the web only to end up in the glue?
Are you a follower or a leader? Do you find yourself believing most everything that comes along or do you examine all the evidence and make decisions based on the facts? Be careful that you are not moved or swayed by those who have nothing but evil intent in mind. And if you are easily lured by running through a creek—beware! The teacher may be watching.
Pastor J. T. Carnell.