Topic: Mistaken Identity [Monday June 18, 2018]
Text: 2 Chronicles 18:28-34 (KJV)
Key Verse: “And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, It is the king of Israel. Therefore they compassed about him to fight: but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him; and God moved them to depart from him” (2 Chronicles 18:31).
MESSAGE:
In Tibet, there is a social system called the caste system, which has been maintained for a long time. It is a system where one’s birth determines what they do or who they become in life and society. People are born either as outcasts, priests or as lower caste depending on the kind of family or clan they were born into. Once a person is born in a particular caste, it would be almost impossible for such a person to move up the social ladder to assume another status.
Recently, reliable sources say that some people started breaking the jinx by dressing and acting the way the higher caste people do things and are often mistaken as being born into the caste to which they now appear to be.
Mistaken identity could be sometimes very dangerous especially when it comes to matters of life and death. Ahab, in the text, had tricked Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, to dress and be mistaken for the enemy target. This almost cost Jehoshaphat his life. Moses, while he fled from Egypt, was similarly mistaken for an Egyptian because of how he was dressed while he helped the daughters of his prospective employer, the Priest of Midian (Exodus 2:15-19).
Our dressing or how we appear, usually gives us away. People define us by how we look, while in most cases, we define ourselves by what we own. As Christians, how we appear or comport ourselves to a large extent determines how well we can attract others to Christ and win them to the Lord. It is tragic for a believer to be categorised amongst sinners by his/her carriage or dressing. It is doubly tragic to attempt to placate the world by our general outlook because of a damning appetite to be accepted by the world. A real child of God comports himself/herself in righteousness and offers no apologies for the garb and tongue provided by God and for His glory.
Thought For The Day: If you are a pilgrim, appear like one; don’t be like those on vanity fair.
Bible Reading In One Year: Proverbs 27-29
DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.
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