This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you.
Galatians 5:8
Persuasion is a word rarely used, but is in continual operation in our lives. From the news media to political propaganda, from friends to family, from customers to colleagues, and, at times, from the pulpit to the pew, we face persuasions of unhealthy proportions.
From the time we can crawl direction is given to us. It is at that moment persuasion becomes a force to reckon with. Our persuasion is affected by our eyes in the color, shape, form, etc. Our ears bring a different perception as rhythm, rhyme, and tone allure our ear. If it is not our eye or ear, it’s the touch, texture, and feel of things that affect us. If not the touch, then our smell gets involved, and the allurement of the fragrance affects our decision. Then, we deal with our taste: sweet, sour, salty, or savory.
From the time we roll over to crawl to the time they lay us in the grave, there is the constant persuasion between good and evil. Paul penned it to the Romans so well in Romans 7:21 about evil being on the constant prowl to persuade. Be careful the propaganda you allow to persuade your decisions. Everything that glitters is not gold.
Paul writes to a young church at Galatia and tells them to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ had made them free. The allurement of entangling themselves again with the law, the yoke of bondage, has them devouring one another over things that will not save them, destroying the yoke of love.
As sharp as our eye is, as keen as our hearing is, as soft as our touch is, and no matter how sensitive our smell, nor how extreme our taste, there are some things we cannot discern in the flesh. It must come through our spirit by the power of God.
Our prayer for you this week: May you be persuaded by the things of God and not the propaganda of man.