Scripture
“…Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure form among all the nations of the earth.; for all the earth belongs to me. And you will be to me a kingdom of priests, my holy nation...” They all responded together, “We will certainly do everything the Lord asks of us.” So Moses brought the people’s answer back to the Lord.
Exodus 19:5-7
Observation
What a great promise from God! It was so moving that the stubborn Israelites vowed unconditional obedience to the Lord. But we know that this never happened. The entire generation had to die in the desert because they weren’t faithful to their vows. Instead, they complained, changed their minds often, disobeyed, lied about it, and rebelled against God and His established leadership. The people sounded more like Pharaoh when making rushed vows that were not serious enough to fulfill. They were 4 seconds quick to listen but 40 years slow to obey.
Application
The second longest distance is the 2 inches from our ear to our brain. Some people take years to think about what God says. They hear it, but in their minds they have a set of roadblocks that causes the seed of the Word to be lost. Many people get stuck here with their own mindset and their unwillingness to accept the truth of God in their minds. But some people, like the people of Israel, were quick to listen! They heard God’s voice and in their minds they decided to follow God’s ways. However, they were slow to obey.
Now, the longest distance is the 18 inches from our mind to our hearts. We know the truth, but we are unable to follow the truth. In our minds we know that we should wait until marriage for sexual intimacy, yet many Christians compromise in this area. We know we must be generous, yet it takes years to start giving some, some more years to give 1% and then, many more years to arrive to the place where we give 10% of our income. We know a lot of stuff, yet we have trouble doing it. Certainly the longest distance is the 18 inches form our mind to heart.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, let me be quick to listen, but also quick to obey. Please forgive me for the many times I’ve been slow to obey your instructions for my life. I cannot fool myself thinking that my slow obedience will somehow honor you. Slow obedience is disobedience by neglect. I don’t want to miss your blessings because it takes years for me to move from revelation to transformation. You have spoken clear instructions for my life and I have not obeyed right away. I have procrastinated and I have been living in disobedience. Please change my heart, and make me quick to listen, but quicker to obey. Let me live under your blessing, as your special treasure, as your child. Amen!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment