Article: Line of Control (LOC) | Br.Praveen Mathew

Line of Control is a term which refers to a military control line between two countries that separates its official borders.

In a spiritual outlook every child of God has a certain Line of Control which GOD has drawn in one’s life to avoid stepping into ungodly territories and against the Will of God.
It is the indwelling power of Holy Spirit that helps a person in identifying the LOC of God and understanding the spiritual border set in one’s life.

The provisions, blessings and ultimately the eternal promise is bestowed upon the one who stays within this Line of control drawn by the Blood of Jesus Christ around the redeemed child.

Sometimes we venture to expand and establish our Power, Influence, Wealth and Relationships as well as to indulge in worldly pleasuresetc. by crossing the Line of Control what Lord has drawn around our lives.

Throughout the Holy Scriptures especially in Old Testament we can see Men who have crossed this LOC have goneastray, and few others who by the mercy of God came back to Lord’s territory through repentance even though they drifted away for a brief time,and also there are men of GOD who stayed always within the controlled territory even though temptations and worldly pleasures tried to guide them out of God defined territory.

Let us take an example from Scriptures about Abraham and Lot,

Genesis 13: 7-13
This passage is about Abraham and Lot getting separated by an agreement.
General view is that Lot chose the land and generally he is blamed in most of the messages we hear as a reason for the split, but if we look closely unto this passage in verse 7, the issue started with a conflict between servants of Lot and Abraham (as always it is the people in the background who starts and ignites the flame and it zeroes down to 2 individuals getting into a disagreement).

Here Abraham proposes the solution to Lot to choose the land he wants and if we look at verse 10 – Lot looked up towards the valley of Jordan which was like a garden until the town of ZOAR (end of verse 10).

We need to understand here that Abraham put forth this agreement and the land unto which Lot looked upon was a promise for him and was the LOC by God for him which was until ZOAR.
But if we look at Verse 12 carefully, it mentions that Lot after reaching ZOAR started to move his tents as far as SODOM and ended up staying in that land and thereby breaching the line of protection and promise he received.

We all know the story thereafter where trouble and destruction of Lot started with Genesis 14: 12-16 where he was taken as a captive and Abraham came to his rescue.

Also it didn’t end there and the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah followed and there is this passage in Genesis 19 where Lord God give a chance to Lot and family to escape the wrath on Sodom by the interceding of Abraham.

In Genesis 19 verse 19-22, Lot asks Lord to allow him to enter the nearby town which is small and thathis life will be saved.

Even though he get back to the small town of Zoar which was the boundary line separating Sodom, it was too late and as we know Lot ended up in the mountain which was asked by Lord initially to escape and he became the father of Moabites and Ammonites.

Lot looked for expansion and looked at the larger town of Zodom against the smaller one of Zoar which was his territory he chose initially, but dear children of God the external look and temporary greatness of Sodom pushed him to move his tent further into territory outside the will of God and finally he ended in destruction, even though Apostle Peter writes about Lot in 2 Peter 2:6-8 as a righteous man he ended in the wrong place even though he was saved from Sodom.

Same time we look at Abraham and he always obeyed Lord and stayed within the promised LOC and always stood against gaining temporal goodness indulging with ungodly men.
If we look at Genesis 14: 21-23 , when Abraham met King of Sodom he refused to accept any gifts and do this great proclamation in Verse 22-23

22. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,
23. That I will not take from a thread even to a shoe latchet, and that I will not take anything that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:

Immediately after above incident God saw the Faith in Abraham and appeared in Vison and gave him the greatest promise which was credited to HIM as righteousness. Genesis 15:1-6.

Abraham have collected gifts from Pharaoh earlier in Genesis 12:16 even after addressing Sarah as his sister to escape death, but here after winning the battle to rescue Lot and thereby helping King of Sodom, he refuse to accept anything from King of Sodom as he very well knew the land of Sodom and never wanted any possession out of that sinful land.
For us who are the new covenant redeemed children, we have none other than Jesus to look in this regard, who in total obedience to Heavenly Father he humbled himself and always stayed within the Will of Father to complete the redemptive task entrusted on HIM.
Jesus took all insult, mocking, torture and pain but never went out of the will of Heavenly Father. Not only that, he took the greatest weapon i.e. Word of God to defeat Satan in the temptation mount when Satan tried to push Jesus from the pre destined plan of Salvation.

Children of God Me and You have all the blessings materially and spiritually provided within the LOC which the Lord has set around us, let us humble ourselves and stay and act truthfully and being grateful for good things God has provided in our life.If we try to expand our tent to prohibited territories by GOD by the means of unrighteous, ungodly and selfish ways, it will end up a failure sooner or later.
Initially when we step out and try to build more, be it Wealth or Power or Influence in ungodly way, for some time it looks like it is going well but the destruction will be following.
If we have stepped out of the God given territory, repent at the very moment and lord will bring us back as he did in the life of David after he crossed the LOC into the territory of murder and adultery, he came back to God drawn territory in total repentance and there came the most powerful & greatest repenting psalms 51.

In Christ we have greater promise of Eternity and he wants his child to abide within his LOC for HIS greater work to fulfill in us.
We may think like Lot that Zoar is small and Sodom is exciting but even if we have only little in whichever aspect of Life , let us be content on what Lord has provided because HE will protect and deliver and provide in the Little’s of life for a faithful and grateful believer .
As Apostle Paul Says, What I am is by the Grace of God.
For the one who is under and within the control of Lord – As Psalmist Says in 139:5 – You have enclosed me behind and before,and laid your hand upon me.
He will never leave nor forsake us if we stays under HIS wings of Grace and within the LOC set by Lord.

Praveen mathew