Weigh all advice against the Word

"Jeroboam asked for advice and then made two gold statues of calves. He showed them to the people and said, "Listen everyone! You won't have to go to Jerusalem to worship anymore. Here are your gods who rescued you from Egypt." 1 Kings 12:28 CEV

Upon making the decision to run a marathon, especially an ultramarathon, the first thing most people will do is ask for advice on training. And while seeking counsel is most definitely a good thing that can save a runner a lot of time and energy (as long a person gets it from a good source), listening to bad advice can cause a runner to experience fatigue, failure and injury. And some of the worst advice ever given for running an ultra according to a recent article published by Canadian Running Magazine was; start fast (not a good idea as any experienced ultra runner knows - you can rarely recover from going out too fast) and expect the best (never ever ever expect the best in any race, especially an ultra, always train and prepare for the worst).

And you know, just as following bad running advice can keep us from reaching the finish line in a race, following bad spiritual advice can do the same. Consider the story of Jeroboam who "asked for advice and then” upon listening to that advice “made two gold statues of calves.” He then instructed "the people" that if it was too timely and tiresome to travel to Jerusalem to worship (as God had clearly commanded the Jewish men to do three times a year), it would be okay to worship at the temples he had set up that were much more conveniently located. That advice sure sounded practical right? I mean it would be easier to worship closer to home. But the people that took the easy way out and followed that practical “advice” were led into direct disobedience and away from God. 

And you know, as this story shows, the easy way is not always the best way - and no matter how much you and I might want bad advice to be good advice, it never is. So weigh all advice against the Word my friend. Because that’s the only way to see if the guidance you are receiving is truly good. 

Heavenly Father, thank You for the reminder that there will always be people, even Christians, that will give us advice that will sound good but will lead us astray. Help us to weigh every recommendation we are given against the Truth before following it remembering that the only good advice is the advice that keeps us in obedience to You. 

Happy Running!!!

Let go - Elevation Worship