Throughout history, following the path of least resistance has consistently led to destruction. This is true of individual souls as well as of nations. Look at just a few of the examples given in the Bible. Eve took the path of least resistance when Satan
tempted her to eat the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. She did as
Satan urged, and Adam followed her lead. Now all of mankind is doomed to
live by the sweat of his brow and die the first death. ( The people of Noah's time chose the path of least
resistance. Little by little they accepted sin until they became completely
evil. Consequently, they all died in the great flood-except for Noah and
his family, of course, who stood firm in righteousness. ( The case of Sodom and Gomorrah is one of the most
well-known of the Bible. The people of these cities obviously chose the
path of least resistance repeatedly throughout the years until they were
completely evil. It isn't very difficult to imagine how this must have
started-a little tolerance here . . . a little acceptance of wrong there
. . . until every sort of sexual depravity was the norm there. Lot was
the only righteous man to be found in either of the cities. God destroyed
the cities, and everyone and everything in them, with burning sulfur. ( Many nations in the Old Testament took the path
of least resistance when they chose to worship idols rather than God. Many
of these nations were later destroyed by God's chosen people ( Aaron chose the path of least resistance when
Moses was on Mount Sinai with God. He followed the wishes of the foolish
people and made an idolatrous golden calf. As a result, God punished the
Israelites with a plague. ( Shammua, Shaphat, Igal, Palti, Gaddiel, Gaddi,
Ammiel, Sethur, Nahbi, and Geuel, the ten men sent with Joshua and Caleb
to spy upon those in the promised land, had little faith in God's power.
They reported to the Israelites that the people in Canaan were stronger
than they were and that they could not prevail against them. The fickle
Israelites believed them instead of Joshua and Caleb and grumbled against
Moses and Aaron. Consequently those ten men were struck down with a plague,
and all of the other Israelites over the age of 20 were doomed to die in
the wilderness.
( King David chose the path of least resistance
when he saw a beautiful woman. Instead of resisting lust, he intentionally
placed one of his loyal men in battle where he was sure to be killed (and
he was) so that he could have his wife, Bathsheba. God severely punished
David and his family for this grievous sin. ( Peter once chose the path of least resistance
when, in fear, he denied Jesus Christ three times. He surely had realized
that if he had admitted being a following of Jesus, he would have been
killed, too. Had it not been for Jesus' earlier prayer on his behalf, he
surely would have been doomed. ( Rather than ruin his political career, Pilate
chose the path of least resistance when he washed his hands, both symbolically
and literally, of the fate of Jesus and allowed the angry mob to crucify
our Savior. Tradition (but not the Bible) tells us that Pilate later committed
suicide. ( Throughout the centuries-both in biblical and modern times-the Israelites, God's chosen people, have been carried into captivity and scattered throughout the world due to their unwillingness to stand firm for God. They turned from God and indulged in idolatry, time and time again. It is obviously our sinful, human nature to always "go with the flow" and take the path of least resistance. But by the grace of God, we don't have to do so! Instead, God's Spirit can empower even the most weak and sinful person to stand up for God and what is right. There are many inspiring examples of this in the Bible, as well. Joseph avoided the path of least resistance when
he refused the sexual advances of Potiphar's wife. When she was rebuffed
by Joseph, she framed him and had him thrown in prison. But this was all
part of God's wonderful plan which resulted in Joseph being put in the
position of saving his entire family from famine years later. ( When Joshua and Caleb gave a faithful report that
the Israelites could, indeed, prevail against those in the land of Canaan
as God had promised, they avoided the path of least resistance. Consequently,
they outlived all of their contemporaries and were permitted entrance to
the promised land 40 years later when all the faithless ones had died in
the wilderness. (Numbers
13:26-14:45; Young David surely did not choose the path of
least resistance when he went into battle against the giant Goliath. Many
tried to talk him out of entering into the battle on behalf of his people.
But because of his faith in God's protection and his willingness to serve,
his people were saved from slavery. ( Both Ezra and Nehemiah avoided the path of least
resistance. Despite great opposition, they rebuilt the temple of the Lord
and Jerusalem's walls. ( Queen Esther nearly gave in to follow the path
of least resistance, but her compassion for her people ruled and she risked
her own life and was successful in saving the Jews from certain annihilation.
( Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego were faithful and
evaded the path of least resistance. When King Nebuchadnezzar ordered everyone
to bow to an idol, they refused and were cast into the fiery furnace. But
God was with them and they miraculously survived. ( Daniel was not one to take the path of least resistance.
When he wouldn't pray to the king or stop praying to God, he was thrown
into a den of lions. God delivered him, though, and gave him an exalted
position in the kingdom. ( Jesus Christ, the Son of God, never took
the path of least resistance. His perfect examples include offending the
Pharisees by standing up against their man-made tradition of required hand
washing ( John the Baptist certainly didn't take the path
of least resistance when he clearly told Herod it was wrong for him to
sleep with Herodias, his brother Philip's wife. Consequently, John the
Baptist was beheaded. He stood firm on what was right to the end. ( Peter and John, filled with the Holy Spirit, were
able to avoid the path of least resistance. When jailed, they stood firm
and refused to stop preaching in the name of Jesus, declaring "We must
obey God rather than men!" ( Stephen is well known for becoming the first Christian
martyr. He steered clear of the path of least resistance when falsely charged
with blasphemy for preaching the gospel of Christ. He stood firm to the
end, preaching a historically-moving sermon to his killers. He saw the
glory of God while being stoned to death. ( The path of least resistance is one of Satan's most powerful tools. For so often, we don't realize that we are on it until we are far from God's righteousness and truth. Time and time again throughout history, individuals and nations have succumbed to this snare of the evil one. Alas, our own blessed nation, the United States of America, once founded upon God's truth, has taken the path of least resistance too many times. The resulting crime and depravity is all too obvious for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. Even more disturbing is this tendency to follow the path of least resistance within our churches today. At our fingertips is the Bible, God's Holy and Truthful Word, which is being ignored or "explained away" all too often within the body of believers. Instead of lovingly correcting and rebuking our brothers and sisters in Christ as the Bible teaches, too many congregations are choosing to turn blind eyes to the sin which grows and prevails within the body of Christ. How long will it be before following the path of least resistance leads to the destruction so richly deserved? The power of the Holy Spirit is available for
every single Christian. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we
can
avoid the path of least resistance and stand firm. The scriptures admonish
us to stand firm to the end
( Copyright © 1999 Kimberly B. Southall. All rights reserved. |
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