This world is a draining place to exist: Work, eat, sleep, think about going back to work, take care of kids, clean, maintain the house, groceries, pay bills, pay taxes, pay mortgage, exercise, cook, travel here, travel there, drink lots of coffee, watch the news, get scared, ignore the news, laundry, fold laundry, put away laundry, groceries, what is stinkin' up the fridge?, wash dishes, put away dishes, yada, yada, yada...time to do laundry again. **sigh** How is it that we are supposed to not be distracted by these things and focus on more important matters...the Kingdom of God? I think it's a matter of the heart...
Is it possible that in our human natures, we can put these things on the back burner and return to God as our number one priority? YES...with man, this is impossible, but with God ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!!! Praise be to God that all that is required of us is obedience and He wills and works in us to be sanctified and conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.
I think the remant of Israel had a similar, draining world to exist in: eat, sleep, try to rebuild the temple, get yelled at by the foreign neighbors, milk the cows, feed the camels, do laundry by hand, walk here, walk there, pick all the crops by hand, get threatened, he said she said with Darius King of Persia, get discouraged, yada, yada, yada. The word of God came to the Israelites who had returned to Jersalem to rebuild the temple through the prophet, Zechariah "'Return to Me, 'declares the Lord of hosts, 'that I may return to you, says the Lord of Hosts," Zechariah 1:3. They had physically already returned to Jerusalem, but they hadn't returned in their hearts to the Lord because they had stopped doing the work that the Lord had called them to do-rebuilding the temple. And the word of God speaks to us today in the same way...we must return to the Lord with all our heart and cast off all the things that are distracting us. I am not saying to stop doing all the things that are necessary...but we must serve the Lord first and foremost. In your heart come to the same realization as the apostle, Paul who said "But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord..." Philippians 3:7-8. May the Lord be merciful and grant us the wisdom and understanding that nothing matters compared to knowing Him. This world is passing away and the lust of it, but the word of the Lord stands forever. Give Him our time and our days...give Him our daily tasks and choose to bless Him in being diligent even in the monotony of life. Seek to know Him during your day. Prais and appreciate how He cares for us as you care for your families. Think of Jesus...having no place to lay his head, giving all His time to preaching the word and to the Father, and ministering to the lost while raising up disciples for the Father. Praise Him for who He is...that He has provided. Praise Him continually Focus on Him as the center of life because He is!
"Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord." Acts 3:19
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2 comments:
This is good stuff.
I've just finished the "Practice of the presence of God" by brother Lawrence and he hits on the same theme, obviously. One thing that stuck out to me was that he continually hit on the PRACTICE -> the work to concentrate on God. Many would come to him and ask "Why are you so calm and in God's presence even amidst chaos?" and his response was something like, "Because i've practiced." Good stuff.
May the Lord be merciful and help us to practice this discipline! Sounds like a great book...
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