O Be Careful, Little _____ What You ______

Ezekiel 44

v. 2,4:  The LORD said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the LORD God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut....”  Then He brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the house; and I looked, and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD, and I fell on my face.

Impression:  How lightly and casually we regard the LORD God in our thinking, our speaking, our doing.  Perhaps the greatest sin—one that opens the door to so many others—is to think too little of God.  We presume upon the body and blood of the Lord Jesus an intimacy of brotherhood. But God is our Father—not our buddy.  God remains the awesome, commanding, sovereign Lord of the universe.  If we but understood His power, greatness, and wisdom we, too, would tremble and fall.  We would be unable to stand and go about our daily business for fear of the LORD GOD.

Application:  How might a better understanding of God affect my prayer life?  To recognize His awesome might and sovereign control would put my requests and desires in perspective.  Would I still ask for the petty things that please me?  How would a better knowledge of God affect my actions?  If I lived out the children’s song, “For the Father up above is looking down in love, so be careful little _________ how you ________,” what would change?  My personal entertainment, my indulgent eating, my relaxed laziness?  But I don’t want to.  I don’t want to know God because, yes, it would demand change.  It would remove the self-indulgence and shackle my desires, my efforts, my time, my resources to God and God alone.  But what better place to be?  “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.” (Psalm 84:10)

God is glorious.  God is gracious.  God is lovingly kind.  God is merciful.  God is peace.  God is joy.  God is the Provider and Protector of His people.  Because of Christ’s substitutionary death, “My beloved is mine, and I am his.” (Song of Solomon 2:16).  But never at the cost of flippancy or contemporary causality.  God is.  My existence depends on that.  Past.  Present.  Future.  He is the I AM.  I am a dependent clause.  May God allow us to fear Him that we might walk in humble service and gratitude.

There's Not Enough Time

Melissa and I were bent over picking straw flowers and purple statice in her dusty Wyoming garden when she stood, tears in her eyes, and said, "There's not enough time...  He died on Sunday and if he hadn't been at Bible School the week before," her voice dropped off.  A little previously unknown fellow had visited their Vacation Bible School and trusted Jesus as his Savior.  That next weekend he and his family were instantly killed in a vehicle accident.

At this time of year when life is swirling and it doesn't seem everything that needs to be done will get done, I remember Melissa's dark brown eyes and the tears running down her freckled cheeks.  "There's not enough time to reach them all."

May we never lose the urgency of loving and serving, reaching others with the good news of Jesus' substitutionary death, trusting that He will sovereignly direct our steps.

Satisfaction!

I had a moment of realization the other day that the Bible reading and meditating I did more than a month ago is finally bearing fruit.  I often have the expectation that my daily reading will affect that day--that what I read in God's Word today is my daily bread, and tomorrow God will provide another day's worth of bread, etc.  But as I sat in Sunday school this week I realized that I am not "wanting what I want" like I did earlier this summer.  Hurray!  Yay, God!

I distinctly remember sitting in the coffee shop at church camp last month, early in the morning, and praying over Proverbs 13:25, "The righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite, But the stomach of the wicked is in need."  My question that day, and the remainder of the week was, "Am I choosing to be satisfied?"  God has given me all I need.  He is my Shepherd and I am not in want (Psalm 23:1).  So am I living as one who is satisfied?

Now as our women's Bible study groups are beginning the book of James, I can see the discontent.  The twelve tribes James is writing to: don't like trials (James 1:2-4; 5:10-11), they don't have enough money (1:9-10, 4:13-14, 5:1-6), they aren't getting what they want (1:13-16, 4:1-5, 11-12; 5:9), they want more (2:3-4, 3:14-16, 4:2-3, 13-16; 5:1-5), and their selfishness results in hurtful words, actions, and attitudes (1:20-21, 26; 2:1-7, 13; 3:2-12, 14-16; 4:1-4, 11-12, 16; 5:1-6, 9, 12).  James is calling them to obedience. 

Contentment comes through obedience.  When I get busy doing what God has called me to do, I don't have time or interest for other things.  It is a call to refocus, not on what I don't have, but on the many things I do have.  It is a call to put Christ first, to trust Him with my wants and needs, and to serve others over and above myself.  After all, "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?"  (Romans 8:32).

James is a book of action, but more than that, it is a book that calls us to a choice:  am I satisfied, truly satisfied, with Jesus?  Does life reflect greed or gratitude?