“Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, ‘What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?’ And Balaam said to the donkey, ‘Because you have made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you.’ And the donkey said to Balaam, ‘Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way?’ And he said, ‘No.’” (Numbers 22:28-30, ESV)
In the previous devotion we looked at Balaam and concluded that his worldly passions clouded his spiritual vision. Yet Balaam’s misdirected priorities also clouded his ability to identify and assess the changes in the circumstances surrounding him.
When Balaam’s donkey would not proceed, he hit his donkey on three occasions. The Lord opened the mouth of the donkey and it asked Balaam two questions. “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way?” Balaam answers the last question, no. Balaam had missed the momentary change in the donkey’s historically lifelong good behavior. His donkey was not being rebellious. The donkey had acted to save Balaam’s life (v33).
Balaam’s worldly passions, a problem of his heart’s devotion, clouded his ability to assess the circumstances that surrounded him. This resulted in poor decision-making.
Many people incorrectly think that there is a division between man’s spiritual life and physical life. There is not. The condition of a man’s heart affects every aspect of his life. A person that is fully devoted to the Lord is prone to make good decisions in every area of life, whereas the person driven by worldly passions is prone to make bad decisions in every area of life, just like Balaam.
Renewing the Heart 