Do I behave like the ass?

Awhile back, there was a video being shared on Facebook of a preacher saying it was alright to, "say the f-word in church, in fact, Christians should say it all the time!"  He was sensationalizing the word 'forgive'.  It seems that, sometimes, a Christian believes he needs to shock people in order to get his point across.  Well, I guess I'm doing the same thing tonight...

Recently, I heard someone tell me, "You may know the Bible, but I believe that God can speak through me, too.  After all, if He can speak through a donkey, he can do the same with me.  Right?"  Aside from being mildly insulting to me personally, I've been pondering why his statement continues to bother me.  The comment came from another believer who, I am certain, wants nothing more than to do will of God and show His love to those in the world around him.  After all, doing what God wants us to do was exactly the topic several of us had been discussing that evening.

Well, I do like the Bible - I like it a lot - so much so that I often passionately say, "I LOVE the Bible!"  I love reading it, and teaching it, and talking about it, and thinking about it...  But, I know that doing those things won't do me - or anyone else - much good in having a relationship with God, if that's all I ever do; however, I also know that not doing those things will produce the same result.  So, I thought about his words in light of the Scripture, the one in which he was referring to in his comment towards me.

The aforementioned donkey belonged to a man named Balaam.  You can read what happens between the two of them in the Old Testament portion of the Bible; it's found in the Book of Numbers, Chapter 22.  I'll sum it up for you here: Balaam was a man known to be sensitive to spiritual matters and possessed some power with his words.  He had been asked, by some influential people from the area where he lived, to say some not-so-nice things to the Israelites.  God told Balaam not to go with those people, then He said he could, but warned him to do exactly as He said.  Balaam rode along with them on his donkey - thinking everything was alright - when God's anger was stirred, and He came real close to killing Balaam.  His donkey saved him 3 times: the first only cost Balaam some embarrassment as he veered off the road into a field, the second cost Balaam some physical pain as he pressed hard against a wall, the third time stopped his forward progress completely.

Although Balaam beat the donkey each time, it was upon the third time that the donkey was given the ability to speak clearly to Balaam.  I absolutely love the conversation the two of them have, and the fact that they even have a conversation at all, but I'm gonna try to keep this as short and to the point as possible.  The point is: Balaam didn't see the very real danger that was in front of him, but his donkey did and was willing to endure every beating to keep Balaam from getting killed!  We are told that the donkey's life would have been spared, but Balaam would certainly have died if the donkey had just done as Balaam desired.  When Balaam's eyes are able to see clearly, he asks God's forgiveness and declares that he is willing to turn around and leave the job those people were going to pay him a lot to accomplish.

The story doesn't end there.  Balaam's story winds it's way all throughout the Bible: the Old and the New Testament Scriptures.  Balaam is condemned by God because, although he pronounces a blessing instead of a curse on those whom God desires to bless, he encourages sexual immorality and disobedience for God's people.  The donkey, however, is again praised for his actions (2 Peter 2:16)!

So, in light of all of this, I say, I hope that God's people see and sound like the ass of Balaam, rather than just going along with the wishes of others, or going our own way, or simply THINKING that we are doing what God wants; I hope that we can see clearly the very real danger of God's wrath on those who persist in doing things which do not glorify God, and give clear verbal warning - despite the cost to us - for people to stop!  We need to know the will of God, and obey it!  And, personally, I can't think of a better way to accomplish this than to diligently study the Scriptures for ourselves, and also get with wise people who can help to explain His Words in miraculous, meaningful ways!  I hope, too, that all who read these words don't find them sensational, but transformational.