Father, it was surely a full day. I pray that people were moved to a more fulfilling understanding of communion today in our services. May Your Word not come back empty! Amen!
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One thing that we have a plethora of is chipmunks! And to my knowledge, I don’t believe that have gotten into anything that they shouldn’t have and haven’t caused any damage.
Karen gets a kick out of them because when she’s outside suddenly one will pop out from under our hostas or from behind the wood pile or wherever, they’ll take a quick look around and zip – they are off! All the while they have this air about them that they have gone unnoticed. They seem to feel that they are quite sneaky! Either they are oblivious to our presence or think they’re too fast for us to notice them.
I saw one suddenly appear out from our wood pile this morning, he looked, then darted under the wood splitter. It made me think of our relationship with God. Many times, we’re up to some sort of mischief or another – we’re as guilty as the day is long but we take a quick look around and seeing no one, dash off to our next endeavor. The thing is we are not getting off scott free. We are not going unnoticed. God Almighty is omnipresent and omniscient, i.e. He is everywhere and knows everything.
As sinners, to some degree, we are oblivious…or at least we’ve convinced ourselves into believing that there’s nobody there to catch us doing what we are doing. But we are only lying to ourselves. I would dare say that most of us know that we are doing wrong. We may not acknowledge that there is a God but down deep inside of us there is that conscience – and honestly, I believe it is the Holy Spirit calling us out, helping us to realize that what we are doing is not right. We are guilty.
As followers of Christ, we are only fooling ourselves. God knows and He is not sidetracked in the least. We “pretend” we are getting away with things, but thankfully the Holy Spirit’s speaking to us comes through more clearly, and though we may at times ignore Him, He eventually gets through all the barriers we have erected in our attempts to shut Him out. We realize the error of our ways, confess our sin – seeking forgiveness – and are reinstated into the graces of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I am in a better place in my relationship with the Lord than at many times in my past, but I still occasionally struggle with “chipmunk syndrome”. Temptation can lure me to stop and contemplate something that if quickly addressed and cast aside has no lasting impact on me. But I can linger too long on something that the Lord and I have agreed is not good for me, and I had best be cutting it off sooner rather than later.
Lord Jesus, help me to abide in You – to stay close to Your side, for only there will I be able to see and feel what Your perfect will is for me in the here and now. Amen.
So submit to [the authority of] God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him] and he will flee from you. Come close to God [with a contrite heart] and He will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; and purify your [unfaithful] hearts, you double-minded [people]. James 4:7-8 AMP
Oct 1st, 2023, Sun, 7:42 pm
