Seize the Moment – Day 960
Don’t be a Benedict Arnold!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, November 2.
The infamous story of the arrogant American Revolutionary War hero turned traitor is legendary. Benedict Arnold’s selfish act to sell the strategic military stronghold of West Point to the British in 1780 has become synonymous with treason – “Don’t be a Benedict Arnold!”
Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, and widow of the former king Jehoram, made herself queen of Judah after the death of her son, Ahaziah. Her treason did not stop there as she attempted to extinguish the line of David through the murder of the royal offspring.
Athaliah blasphemed the throne of David for seven years before justice came at the hand of the Chief Priest Jehoiada, ironically the husband of Athaliah’s daughter Jehoshabeath. Joash, the rightful heir to the throne, was anointed king, then Athaliah responded in 2 Chronicles 23:12-13:
When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came into the house of the Lord to the people. She looked, and behold, the king was standing by his pillar at the entrance, and the captains and the trumpeters were beside the king. And all the people of the land rejoiced and blew trumpets, the singers with their musical instruments leading the praise. Then Athaliah tore her clothes and said, “Treason! Treason!”
The hardest form of deception to root out is self-deception. Her ironically illegitimate cry of “Treason! Treason!” was futile! But, just like with Benedict Arnold, Athaliah thought she was justified in her treasonous acts and entitled to the reward she had given herself. Her own ego-centric self-narrative drove her down a destructive path that was obvious to all but herself. She could not see the irony of her own self-deception.
Seize the moment and don’t be a Benedict Arnold! Don’t let your pride deceive or blind you to the truth (Obadiah 1:3; cf. Proverbs 16:18; Revelation 3:17). James 1:22 exhorts, “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who [deceive] themselves.”
God bless you!
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YOUTUBE:
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