Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners. Mathew 1:21.

The Father God sent Jesus as the perfect sacrifice for mankind, to save them from their deplorable state and reconcile them back with God. We were created to be in fellowship with God, until sin came and destroyed God’s plan for us. St. Paul, the once zealous Pharisee, encountered a complete transformation when he met Jesus on the way to Damascus. See what he confesses now:

This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. 1 Timothy‬ ‭1:15‬

However, the Scripture does also mention of people who lived waywardly; that is, not according to how the Lord would want! As believers in Christ, we must not be like them. Let’s see who they were:

Pharoah - A hardened heart

Word of God says that Pharoah hardened his heart 18 times totally. FYI — they existed during the time of Moses and Israelites, as rulers and kings of Egypt. Nevertheless, this Pharoah, who came after Joseph’s(prime minister of Egypt) death was a shrewd and hard hearted man. He tortured the Israelites with hard labour and denied their desire to go and worship God. Exodus 9:27-35. And because of his hardened heart, Egypt had to suffer 10 plagues and lot of destruction. As believers, let’s always be careful about not hardening our hearts.

Balaam - A double minded man

Balaam was a diviner, a soothsayer. Joshua 13:22. Many tribes in the Old Testament came to him for consultation and that’s how he lived. Now, Balak, king of Moab sent men to Balaam with rewards of divination, to curse the Israelites. However, after they left, God appeared to Balaam and instructed him not to curse them because they were people blessed by God. Long story short, there was a lot of back and forth with Balaam; he became a double minded man. On one hand, God was warning him against cursing the Israelites, and on the other, Balak kept alluring him with loads of riches. He was caught in a struggle which ended in Balaam loving the wages of unrighteousness more, than God. 2 Peter 2:15.

(... to be continued)