PEDDLING GOD'S WORD FOR PROFIT

"We are not, as so many, peddling the Word of God." 2 Corinthians 2:17

Perhaps you have heard this story before but I want to share it here because it represents this verse from the Scriptures so well. On one of his voyages Christopher Columbus found that his crew's food supply had dwindled so much that if not soon replenished they would starve. While anchored off the coast of Jamaica he found the natives grateful to give them food. But as time went by they were not so eager to hand over their food supply. They crew began to starve. Columbus was a wise man and he read in astronomy books that a lunar eclipse would soon occur.  He called the islanders together and told them that God was angry with them for with holding food. He said God would blot out the moon. They laughed at first until seeing the moon sink back into darkness. The islanders quickly brought food. Columbus told them he would pray and God would bring back the moon.
We can all relate to Columbus. Sometime a situation makes us want to back others into a corner. But like Columbus, we should never be self serving.
We need to always pray that the Holy Spirit guides us and keeps us from situations such as this. We must never use God to get our way.
We must yield our hearts to God and listen to Him. We must use His word to help prepare others for everlasting life. But we can not use God to further our own gain.
Please thank Ginger and Charlotte for hosting Spiritual Sunday and  join us each week for some wonderful encouragement and spiritual soul feeding.