They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.
The way of Balaam is the crooked way of living to please the urges, desires and passions of the sinful nature of the Devil within oneself. Why would someone love the wages of wickedness? What is the 'wages of wickedness'? Is it greed for more that will lead you into gross sinful living? You have to leave the straight way to do that. There are no two ways about it. What is the 'straight way' here referred to? The straight way is the way of righteousness in Christ. It's a life of continual formation of the divine nature of Christ in you. It's a way of obedience to everything Christ had commanded. Christformation does not occur without your obedience to Christ. He is the only Good and Great shepherd of your life. When you obey everything He has commanded, Christformation occurs within you. If you conduct your life in such a way where you only obey the urges of the sinful nature of the Devil within you, do not dream of any Christformation to occur within your born again spirit. You will only reap what you sow with your life. If you sow with obedience to everything Christ had commanded, then Christformation will occur. If not, you will be void of Christformation in your born again spirit. When this situation occurs, the sinful nature of the Devil in you will overtake you to your own destruction. If you have left the straight way of personal obedience to Christ, make a conscious about turn now and obey everything He has commanded for Christformation within you .Only then will transformation of your mind occur. God the Holy Spirit is the indispensable Helper that God the Father and His Son had sent for this eternal purpose. Have you tried listening to Him for once? Do not leave this straight way for any reason, especially in seeking the things of this world. Fix your eyes on the author and the perfecter of your faith and complete the race of full Christformation in you with His help. Do not be easily deceived by the world and go the way of worldliness. It's a sure pathway of eternal destruction.
Numbers 22: 28-35
Then the LORD opened the donkey's mouth, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?" Balaam answered the donkey, "You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now." The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?" "No," he said. Then the LORD opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown. The angel of the LORD asked him, "Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared her." Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, "I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back." The angel of the LORD said to Balaam, "Go with the men, but speak only what I tell you." So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
