Prone to Wander

My people are determined to turn from me.  Even though they call me God Most High, I will by no means exalt them.  Hosea 11:7

What is it that makes a brother or sister in Christ, prone to wander?  Why do we wander away from our Savior and LORD, the one who gave His life to save our souls?  Study throughout Scripture and we see times when the Israelites wandered far from God.  There was no faithfulness to their Heavenly Father, no love or acknowledgement of Almighty God and His faithfulness towards them.  Hosea 4:1 - Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites, because the LORD has charge to bring against you who live in the land:  There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.  We too, when we wander, lack faith and love towards our Savior and LORD.  

Often when we become satisfied in what we have obtained and accomplished, we might find ourselves wandering from our LORD.  We begin to think that what we have obtained, what we have accomplished, is all because of what we have done.  We choose not to acknowledge our LORD as the giver of all good things.  James 1:17 - Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.  We often forget it is God who has given us the blessing of accomplishment.  Let's guard our heart from pride and acknowledge all the blessings our LORD has bestowed upon us. 

We wander from our Savior and LORD when we look to others for approval or acceptance.  We wander from God when we seek to find our identity in our jobs or relationships.  The Israelites wandered away from their true identity - people chosen and loved by Almighty God.  They turned to idols to try to gain an identity.  Prayerfully search your heart.  Where are you trying to gain your identity?  If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and LORD, you are a child of Almighty God.  You are chosen and loved by Him; that my friend is your true identity.  When we wander away from our Savior and LORD, we wonder who we are.  Our identity will never be found in this world and worldly things.  Turn to Almighty God and allow Him to reveal to you your true identify. 

We wander from our Savior and LORD when we allow the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life to consume our heart and mind.  When our focus is on the lust of the flesh, we become consumed with gratifying our physical desires.  Our thoughts are far from our LORD.  We become a very selfish person.  Our world revolves around us. 

We wander from God when our primary focus is on accumulating things.  We are bowing to the god of materialism.  The things we own become our idols.  We begin to worship our things other than the only One worthy of worship - Almighty God.  The lust of the eyes will carry us down a dangerous road far away from God where we are attempting to gain contentment and satisfaction in things that were never meant to provide us with contentment and satisfaction. 

We wander from our Savior and LORD when we become obsessed with our status or our importance.  Pride is sneaky.  It will sneak into our hearts before we realize what has taken place.  Our daily prayer must be for Almighty God to guard our hearts from the pride of life. 

The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life will cause us to wander away from the Savior of our souls.  1 John 2:16 - For everything in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life - comes not from the Father but from the world. 

Let us remember, we are chosen and loved by Almighty God.  Jesus Christ shed His precious blood to save our souls.  Prayerfully ask Him to help you be aware of times when you are prone to wander.  Stay in a close intimate relationship with your Savior and LORD.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the beautiful gift of salvation.  Forgive us LORD because we are prone to wander.  Help us to always seek You through prayer and the study of Your Holy Word.  In Jesus Name I Pray.....Amen.