Relationship Deception

Over the winter we had received a new Appaloosa mare for my step-daughter. When we first went to look at her she immediately gave me her head so when we brought her home I wasn't too concerned about finishing her out with the cold weather setting in. Since the weather has been warming up I have begun to work with her a little bit and found some issues that I didn't realize when we got her. As long as she is in the barn or away from the other horses I have no problems with her. She acknowledges my authority and willing seeks to please me but the moment she is placed in the field; she has no desire to accommodate me at all.

I can brush all the other horses in the field and they will each come to me to get their turn except her. The moment that I approach her she turns and walks the other direction. If enticed she will allow me or anyone else to mess with her but it is not done out of a desire to please.

This is an easy fix and will be addressed soon but the thing that really got me about it was the similarities to us as Christians when we are away from church or when we do not have a solid relationship with Christ. It is so easy to simply go along with the flow of things and while the crowd may have a tolerance for Christians we do not want them to know that we are because we are worried about the backlash or ridicule for our beliefs.

The other thing that struck me was how she managed to fool me into believing that I would have no problems with her. Typically when a horse gives me their head like that and willingly submit to my authority it is a full submission; I do not have a problem with them even when they are with other horses. When looking at it in the realm of believers it is probably no different than Judas with the disciples. None of them had any clue as to his motives and betrayal even after Jesus made the comment that one of them would betray Him. Rest assured that our churches are filled with people just like this mare. The outward appearances and behaviors work to convince us that they are of us but in reality they are not and while God knows the condition of the heart it is difficult for us to know it because they will even produce works that will convince us that they are His. However the one thing that they will lack is the ability to truly lead someone to Christ.

When we look at Simon the Sorcerer we see this in that while we are told that he believed and worked with Philip, when he saw the people receive the Holy Spirit when the apostles laid hands upon them he asked to buy this ability. In Peter's rebuke of him we do not see any repentance on Simon's behalf instead we see him asking Peter to pray that it would not happen. Since there is no record of him after this period we have to wait until we are in heaven to find out whether he was truly saved or not, because not even baptism is evidence of true salvation.

As I begin to work with her I will look for signs that will reveal a true desire to please me. I will look to see if she is repentant in her behaviors much in the same way that we looked for that in Simon. If she refuses then I will probably not keep her but the chances of that are slim because I can see in her eyes that she has the desire. I have the hope that she will come to the place where she will place her trust in me.

As we look at scripture we can see the desire of God and are told that it is His desire that none shall perish but we are also told that there comes a time where He turns us over to our own destruction. It is our pride that keeps us from falling to our knees before Him; completely surrendered to Him and there will come a time when we all will stand before Him and at that time every knee shall bow and every tongue confess but it will be too late then because our decision will have been made. So while I wait for her to come to that point so He too waits for us ready to reconcile us to Himself.