Woe to them! For they have traveled down Cain’s path, and because of greed have abandoned themselves to Balaam’s error; hence, they will certainly perish in Korah’s rebellion. (Jude 1:11)
In their worship of God, Cain, Balaam, and Korah all tried to replace the genuine article with their counterfeit versions.
Cain exchanged offerings approved by God with unsanctioned fruit. Balaam invented a version of God who cursed for hire. Korah decided his approach to God was as good as Moses’s, and his coup of the high priesthood was swallowed into a shortcut to hell.
Inventing God as we imagine him, and worshiping how we choose are reckless lies that reach back to the snake in the garden. The same human pride now prevents some from humbling themselves before Jesus as God’s revealed solution.
As I talk with people around the world about faith, I find an epidemic of those who want to engage the supernatural and end in heaven, but they don’t want to encounter the real God. It’s no surprise because the only path to a holy God takes us through the swamp of our sinfulness, and who wants to wade in that stench?
To avoid the peril of Cain, Balaam, and Korah, I must answer one question—Does my worship originate from human pride, or am I humbly seeking God as he is revealed in the Christian Bible?
Prayer: Jesus, help me genuinely worship the one true God.