JUST BEFORE YOU BECOME A BALAAM…

I was on my way to a meeting when some of the things we needed at home at the season began to flash through my mind. I quickly shoved it aside because I reasoned already that once I get the honorarium where I was heading, the needs would be solved. 

As simple as it seems, I knew it was a dangerous slope. Before I know what is happening, I would weigh and calculate the place that will likely give the fattest honorarium before accepting an invitation. At times, when I see that my heart is tied to it, I either do not collect it at all, or I sow it all as a seed to the Lord the moment I get it. 

At another time, it was the season that I sensed that I should not go out for preaching engagements when invitations to some big meetings began to come. 

Beloved, beware of the pattern of Balaam. You must be hardworking in ministry but beware of the pathway that leads you to become a Balaam. Training your heart is key in life’s journey so you do not become seduced. 

Apostle Peter warned us about the wages of unrighteousness. He mentioned that it is possible to train the heart in covetous practices. And if we do not heed the warning, we would soon forsake the right way and go astray. 

having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices and are accursed children. They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet.

II Peter 2:14-16 NKJV

Apostle Peter concludes that if a man stays on that path, especially as a minister of the gospel, he will be plagued by a sickness called “the madness of the prophet.” 

Your heart is your greatest asset. If your heart is seduced, lust has taken over the steering wheel of your life, and it never ends well. If your heart is not right, you lose your part in the ministry. 

Can I act the dumb donkey for you today? Turn back from Mammon. Deal with the tendency to become a Balaam. 

Before you run and say, “Thank God I am not a Pastor,” have your needs redefined your commitment to the Lord? Why was it your tithe that you stopped paying because you now have greater needs? 

May we all finish well. 

temilOluwa Ola, Eruwa.