ONLY GOATS CROSS LAWNS

“ONLY GOATS CROSS LAWNS”

These were the words of my secondary school Principal. I don’t remember how many times I heard him say this, but the words stuck. More than 30 years later, I still take the longer route to get where I need to go, instead of taking shortcuts that cross and deface pristine lawns. These words still ring in my head today, and I don’t want to ever see myself as a goat.  SAMBA, as we fondly called him, was a great man who shaped and moulded our young minds with his words, actions, and charisma. Many of such words still guide my thoughts and actions today.

With this on my mind, I can imagine what occupied the thoughts of the Rechabites when they gave Prophet Jeremiah the answer below:

Then I set jars full of wine and some cups in front of the men of the Rechabite family. And I said to them, “Drink wine.” ⁶ But they said, “We will not drink wine. For Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, told us, ‘You and your sons must never drink wine. Jeremiah 35: 5 – 6

They had the opportunity to compromise and take some wine. After all, their father was not there looking over their shoulders. He was long gone, but his words remained with them. They had built invisible boundaries with the words of their father, and nothing was going to make them break ranks. Not even the fact that the counter instruction was coming from the revered prophet of God.

At 17, Joseph found himself in another man’s land without parental or pastoral oversight. He was presented with an almost irresistible opportunity to compromise. Instead, he stayed within the boundaries of the Word and chose to face the dire consequences. He overcame by living up to the standards of the Word of God that had been sown into his heart while in his homeland.

As we journey through the paths of life, opportunities to make little shifts in our Word-influenced boundaries will come our way. Those compromise-laden opportunities may appear insignificant initially, but they create footholds for the enemy to hit us with bigger opportunities. When we walk on lawns, the grass does not disappear immediately. Instead, it is eroded gradually until the place where beautiful grass blades once stood becomes bare ground. That is the same way little compromises eat away at the fabric of our relationship with God. The fact that everyone is doing it and it is generally accepted as the norm does not make it right. God’s Word does not metamorphose. It is settled in heaven.

Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven [standing firm and unchangeable]. Psalm 119:89 [AMP]

The thing about little compromises is that when we break the resistance and do it the first time, it becomes easier subsequently. We gradually become numb to the tugging of the Holy Spirit in that area until the boundary set by the Word of God completely disappears. It should not be so.

Also, …

My word, which comes from my mouth, is like the rain and snow. It will not come back to me without results. It will accomplish whatever I want and achieve whatever I send it to do.” Isaiah 55:11 [GWT]

Nobody may see it; nobody may know about it. However, it never leaves us the same. Just like the Word of God always accomplishes God’s purpose, every little and apparently innocuous act of compromise will also accomplish its purpose of initiating a chasm between our Father and us. We ALWAYS have the grace to say NO.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age Titus 2: 11 – 12 [ESV]