Abandon Safety

“But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.” Deuteronomy 17:16

God never intended for his people to be safe, he wanted his people to be His.  To depend on Him, to trust Him, and to love Him above all else.  A sanctified life is a life of hazardous faith, consistently met with abundant blessings (the kind that doesn’t show up on a balance sheet).  God calls us to love, give, and “go out.”  In doing so, we put our trust in him.  The ministry will always be met with risk.  You must leave off safety to gain “blessed assurance.”

Idols are born out of our carnal ideals, wants, and needs.  They deeply resonate with our humanity and reach far into our culture.  The idol of safety has been commoditized and marketed broadly.  We want to live in the safe neighborhood, drive the safe car, and get a good education so we can work to gain a safe and stable income; in hope to maintain our safety.  Consider this, if we spend our lives “getting horses” and striving to serve the false idol of safety, will we then reject the providence of God in our lives and lose out on the blessing that would have followed? Long before the prophet Samuel anointed King Saul, Moses prophesied of the day when the children of Israel would demand a temporal king.  They wanted a king because they wanted to be like the other nations.  The other nations had kings to govern them, provide for them, and protect them.  This was the agreement between the royal and his subjects.  You give the king your subjection and adoration, he gives you safety.  Moses told them, when you do this, when you reject God and set a king over you, make sure it is one of your brethren; and when he is king, he should not multiply horses (along with wives and gold) to himself.  In that day, horses were incredibly useful.  They were weapons of war, capital investments, and a mode of transportation.  The horse was quantifiable prosperity and security.  What would be considered in our day and age as a well-diversified portfolio.  The king with armies, horses, land, and gold, is one who is safe; and the people under such king are safe.  Furthermore, Moses told the people, don’t let the king cause the people to return to Egypt.  Egypt was no picnic for Israel, but at least it was familiar and familiar is safe.  Canaan land was not going to be safe, Canaan land is a land of unknown.  They were never to go back to Egypt; Egypt was not their home, it was not their promise, and though familiar, it was so much less than what God had in store for them in Canaan.  They had to trust God in Canaan land, they had to rely on God in Canaan land, and they had to believe God in Canaan land.  Therefore, the temptation to tangible safety was powerful.  They wanted to “see” their king, “see” his horses, “see” his chariots, and “see” his coffers full of silver and gold.  They wanted to “see” their safety.  They rejected God and opted for safety.  In doing so, they built up an idol that would eventually condemn them to captivity.  The people of God, of Almighty God, convinced they are threatened, weak, and in need of horses to protect them.  The devil does the same thing today.  He tells us we need all this “stuff” to keep us safe, and that our neighbor is a threat to our much-needed safety.  The reality is, our trust in “stuff” is the threat to our ultimate security, and our neighbor needs Jesus; just like we do.  Where would be if Jesus had said: “I better not preach, they might kill me.”    

Mission work is not safe, preaching the gospel is not safe, outreach is not safe, and serving the Lord is not safe.  Lusting for temporal safety will undermine evangelism.  The desire to protect the little bit you have, can cause you to lose everything.  Would you rather live for a king, or the King of Kings?  Would you rather serve an idol or the one true God?  Lord help us to be committed to Christ and not our own safety.