Back To Home Page To Archives - Spring of Life - H. Roger Bothwell Balaam One of the most interesting stories found in the Bible is the story of a true prophet of God who was not one of the children of Israel. As a matter of fact he was called upon to use his connection with God to curse Israel. His name was Balaam. You might remember him as the man who talked to his donkey but that is not the most interesting thing about him. He was a good man. He was a man who wanted to do the right thing. But he had one little character flaw. He loved money. Balak, the king of Moab, offered Balaam great wealth if he would only curse Israel thus stopping Israel from advancing upon Moab. Now this is the interesting part of the tale. Balaam knew better but he just could not get all that money out of his mind. So he schemed and plotted until he was actually able to bring a calamity upon Israel. Balaam died during this sad event. It is a perilous thing to cherish an unwholesome character trait. Little by little it eats away at the noble part of our being. Just like a tiny leak in a dam eating away at the core of the dam continually weakening it so a cherished sin eats away at us. The road to character development is to deal with defects just as soon as possible. If you have trouble with it pray. God will help. I'm Roger Bothwell and my address is hrb1@tiac.net or 151 Old Farm Rd. Leominster, MA 01453. Thank you for your support of our faith ministry. Past devotionals can be accessed at Archives