Today’s Reading, 1 Chronicles 13-17
Focal Scripture: 1 Chronicles 15:3 “For many years Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without instruction,”
Have you ever missed something in your life for an extended period of time? When something is missing it truly affects every are of your life. You are more irritable, you have less patience, you become lonely and you even lose interest in other activities. For many people I would argue they experience a form of depression when something important is missing. Unfortunately, for most people they get used to what’s missing instead of working to find it or make things right.
In today’s reading we see the phrase “for many years Israel was without the true God, without a teaching priest and without instruction.” The nation experienced Dykes’s and spiritual strangulation. However, it only took one person to bring them from this place of misery. Someone had to stand up and declare no more, we will be a people of God again.
So I ask you this question today. Are you without the one true God? You can tell by the following ways.
- Do you stay away from spiritual disciplines?
- Do you avoid corporate worship?
- Do you have a bad attitude and impatient with others?
- Do you experience no conviction over sin?
- Do you have a difficult time loving those who are different than you?
- Do you constantly talk about or undermine other people?
These questions are not exhaustive but they are enough to challenge you and get you thinking about your own spiritual condition. Too often we do not evaluate where we are spiritually. We also do not hold other believers accountable with how they live.
When a person who claims to walk with Christ lives in ways that bring shame on God and ruin the reputation of the church it must be dealt with immediately. When they are not it allows sin to fester and provides an opportunity for it to spread. In our reading today it says they were without the one true God but doesn’t say they didn’t worship any god.
So our challenge is to make sure we worship the God of heaven. Listen to correction from his word and be people who teach the truth. The problem we have today in the world and our churches is biblical authority and expectations. We are called to die, submit, follow, and spread the gospel. Anything else shows we have exchanged the God of the Bible for a god we have created.
Tomorrow, I plan on reading 1 Chronicles 18-20
