"God's thinking is Heaven Man's thinking is Earth"

"Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and Empty deceit, according to the tradition of men to the basic principle of the world, and not according to Christ.

COLOSSIANS 2:6(KJV)

   There is a subtle temptation that encourages Christians to be practical." That is, they try to do God's work in man's way. Getting results" becomes the primary focus. It almost seems that we believe that the end justifies the means. Don't be led away by the world's reasoning. An examination of God's Word shows that the means are sometimes even more important than the results. The World tries to convince you that as long as you can accomplish something for the kingdom of God's that's all matters. For examples, Ananians and Sapphira gave an offering to their church, which was good thing, but they did it deceitfully. God judged them immediately, not for what they did, but for how they did it (Acts 5:1-11).

   Satan tried to trap Jesus with this same temptation. Satan did not question the worrthiness of Jesus' task, but simply offered "practical" solution to accomplish Jesus' goal more quickly and at lesser code. God's ways are not like man's ways. "Efficiency" from man's perspective is not prized by God. It did not seem efficient to have the children of Israel march around Jericho thirteen times and then blow their trumphets, but it brought the walks down (Josh.6). It did not appear wise to select the youngest of Jess's sons to become the next king, but God saw a man after his own heart (1Sam.16:11). At first glance, it does not seem logical for Jesus to have picked the twelve disciple He did, yet through them God dramatically affected their world. It is never wise to attempt to do God's work in man's way. It is an age -old temptation that seems to make sense on the surface but often is at variance with the purpose of God.