Are you dense? I know that's rude to ask, but I think I must be dense; and I'm wondering if I'm the only one. Lately everywhere I turn God seems to be trying to get my attention about the same thing. It's a recurring message that has bled into Dad's sermons on Sunday morning, our Wednesday night Bible Study, my personal quiet times and passages I'm studying for BSF (Bible Study Fellowship.) It will take me some time to unpack this, but for now let me just summarize. God wants me to distance myself from this world. He is offering stark and strong reminders of what a desolate yet seductive place I live in. He is asking me to turn from sins that I have become far too comfortable with. I think I look a little too at "home" here. I'm not 100% sure what He wants me to do about it, but I think He's getting ready to ask me to move into a new realm of faith and discipline.
Here's a passage from my BSF lesson this week. It's from the book of Isaiah 1:5-
"Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart is afflicted."
While studying this passage I felt the Spirit say some sobering things to me. I have become a part of a rebellious nation. I don't want to offer a dissertation on the state of America. God is displeased I think, but rather than having me shake my head or wag my finger, the Lord of Hosts is asking me to see my personal rebellion. I am responsible. America is made up of millions of evangelicals who like the American dream more than we like our Heavenly mandate. I have become complacent and lukewarm.
Like verse 5 says, my rebellion has perverted Truth. My head is injured. I allow sin to be overlooked or ignored. My heart is afflicted with hardness and excuses.
God is speaking to me. I am seeking desperately to listen. I only know the diagnosis right now. I am awaiting the prescription. I am on my way to getting well.
