By Olubunmi Adebayo
*You and I must guide against presumption. A life of presumption is a dangerous life to live.*
*Presumption had ruined several people’s lives, sometimes without remedy.*
*What do we mean by presumption?*
*Presumption is when you act or assume something without genuine basis or proper authority or evidence to so act.*
*It could be because of pride or over -confidence on the part of a man.*
*3 ways by which presumption can be acted out :*
*A) We presume on God :*
*When a man acts like God has to bless him or protect or forgive him, even when he is deliberately doing things his own way.*
*For example : “I will sin now and repent later. God is merciful anyway.”*
*There are several Bible passages that direct us not to act like this.*
*B) We presume on people :*
*When we act as if we know better, thereby acting as if we don’t need to ask, listen, or respect boundaries.*
*For example, while making decisions for or on behalf of someone or something.*
*C) We presume about situations :*
*Therefore we jump into conclusions without basis or critical facts.*
*For instance: “I already know how this will turn out”.*
*For your information, there are several characters in the Bible whose downfall started with presumption on the basis established.*
*Such people thought or assumed that God would act in a certain predictable or already known way.*
*A) King Saul in 1Sam 13:9-13 acted presuming that “God will understand if I do it my way.” This was when Samuel was late in arriving at a burnt offering ceremony, and King Saul went ahead to offer by himself the sacrifice that priests were meant to offer. Even the second major error of king Saul was premised on presumption : he spared King Agag and the best livestock. He claimed “to sacrifice to God,” thereby disobeying the directive of God as issued to him.*
*B) King Uzziah in 2 Chronicles 26:16-21 acted on the presumption that “I am the king, so I can also be a priest: “*
*He went into the temple to burn incense – a job only meant for priests. And God struck him with leprosy on the spot, thereby living the rest of his life in isolation.*
*C) Moses and Aaron in Numbers 20:7-12 – presuming that “We can force the hand of God’.*
*God told Moses to speak to the rock for water. Instead, he went ahead to strike it twice in anger and took the credit: “Must we bring you water?” Thereby failing to get to the Promised Land.*
*D) Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-11- they presumed that “We can lie to God and the church and get away with it.”*
*They sold their land, and kept part of the money behind, and pretended they gave their all.*
*This resulted in the death of both of them instantly – a sobering picture of presuming on God’s grace.*
*Several times we fail when we are not supposed to fail because we acted on presumptions.*
*To be concluded tomorrow, God willing.*
Good day to you 👍
©️ Olubunmi S Adebayo.
