My wife and I were guests at a lovely wedding earlier
today where two young Christians were united in marriage. I have been in
the habit for quite some time, and even every Lord's Day in my own
church, of entering the sanctuary...sitting down in the pew...opening
the Bible... anywhere...and starting to read the first words that I come
to on the page. I don't turn around and chitchat with the brother or
sister in the pew behind me or look around at all. It's just an
idiosyncrasy of mine that fills up the few minutes before the worship
service begins.
So I did that earlier today in this beautiful Lehigh Valley church. Quite frankly it doesn't get much better than this. I flopped open the Bible and my eyes met the 58th chapter of Isaiah. I read the first two verses over and over and over. They read...
"Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins. For day after day they seek me out; as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them....." I read these verses four or five times and it was then time for the marriage ceremony to begin and I had not thought about this reading of Scripture until now, after midnight, as I sat down in a hotel room pondering what to write as my Lord's Day post.
The words "as if" were what effected me most as I sat in that pew, for this most certainly is America today. These verses were written to a people who thought that they were a faithful nation. Contextually for us today, it would speak to the church...and to me... rather than those outside of the church.
We are in need of a humbling for we have forsaken our God. Even our best offerings are tinged with the pleasures of the American way of life in the year 2016. God is at this time bringing judgements upon America and at the same time removing veils over the eyes of many within His church, and has actually been doing so for many years....even many decades. Herein is our hope.... that we come to see ourselves as we truly are, a church in great need of introspection, in perilous times, and to cling to the promise from the book of Nahum...."The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him."
We are today a church betrothed to Christ.....and He is coming for us..... surely it would behoove us to make sure that we have oil for our lamps.
So I did that earlier today in this beautiful Lehigh Valley church. Quite frankly it doesn't get much better than this. I flopped open the Bible and my eyes met the 58th chapter of Isaiah. I read the first two verses over and over and over. They read...
"Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins. For day after day they seek me out; as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them....." I read these verses four or five times and it was then time for the marriage ceremony to begin and I had not thought about this reading of Scripture until now, after midnight, as I sat down in a hotel room pondering what to write as my Lord's Day post.
The words "as if" were what effected me most as I sat in that pew, for this most certainly is America today. These verses were written to a people who thought that they were a faithful nation. Contextually for us today, it would speak to the church...and to me... rather than those outside of the church.
We are in need of a humbling for we have forsaken our God. Even our best offerings are tinged with the pleasures of the American way of life in the year 2016. God is at this time bringing judgements upon America and at the same time removing veils over the eyes of many within His church, and has actually been doing so for many years....even many decades. Herein is our hope.... that we come to see ourselves as we truly are, a church in great need of introspection, in perilous times, and to cling to the promise from the book of Nahum...."The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him."
We are today a church betrothed to Christ.....and He is coming for us..... surely it would behoove us to make sure that we have oil for our lamps.
