sarkakaiaima

            Fear is part of human experience. We all fear something (or many things)—a specific situation or person or task or that which we have no control over (like death or sickness). Life in this world is inherently risky. This is why people invest so much time and money and effort into making everything “safer”. This is also why people have turned to religion—so secure some kind of assurance of a safety net from the visible and invisible forces in this world. The story of Balaam reminds us of the danger we face for simply being disciples and seeking to be faithful in this life. Balaam lived his life in what I call “worldly fear.” He was chiefly concerned with wealth and status and he feared losing these. This is the opposite of “holy fear” that the Holy Spirit develops in those who become disciples of the Lord Jesus. Peter the Apostle described this attitude: “If you call on the Father, who judges each person imparti...

The famous Christian English writer of the last century, G. K. Chesterton, wrote the following. “It is always simple to fall; there are an infinity of angles at which one falls, only one at which one stands. To have fallen into any one of the fads from Gnosticism to Christian Science would indeed have been obvious and tame. But to have avoided them all has been whirling adventure; and in my vision the heavenly chariot flies thundering through the ages, the dull heresies sprawling and prostrate, the wild truth reeling but erect.” ( Orthodoxy ) This is literally true of our bodies. Yet it is even more true of our whole selves as we live in this life. In light of that truth, I want to examine the character Balaam from Scripture and then reflect on the impact of his life example for us who believe. Balaam encountered the living God when the Israelites began to enter the land yet “fell” in the worst way possible after. We want to learn from this unusual incident from Israel’s hist...