WATCHWORD:
1 How good God is to Israel—to those whose hearts are pure. 2 But as for me, I came so close to the edge of the cliff! My feet were slipping and I was almost gone. 3 For I was envious of the prosperity of the proud and wicked. 4 Yes, all through life their road is smooth. They grow sleek and fat. 5 They aren’t always in trouble and plagued with problems like everyone else, 6 so their pride sparkles like a jeweled necklace, and their clothing is woven of cruelty! 7 These fat cats have everything their hearts could ever wish for! 8 They scoff at God and threaten his people. How proudly they speak! 9 They boast against the very heavens, and their words strut through the earth. Psalm 73:1-9
57 How we thank God for all of this! It is he who makes us victorious through Jesus Christ our Lord! 58 So, my dear brothers, since future victory is sure, be strong and steady, always abounding in the Lord’s work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever wasted as it would be if there were no resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15:57-58
Meditation:
The Distance…
The distance between Jericho and Jerusalem is approximately 20 miles.
The distance between North Manchester and Denver Colorado is 1,130 miles.
It takes me two hours to drive to Indianapolis, and seven minutes to drive to church.
The distance between me and God is … ???
Some years ago, I asked my friend, who had just moved to Brown County, what church he and his wife attended. His response: “You mean what church we back-slide from.” He is a joker and he is better than that, his wife would see to that. But still…I wonder.
I stood at the pulpit and looked out over the sanctuary at the twenty souls gathered for Sunday worship and my mind skipped back many years when we had two services to accommodate all who came. In my prayers I asked, Lord, what do you have in mind for us? We precious few are yours.
The pandemic has wrecked havoc on church attendance, but, you could argue, it was drifting down anyway, which is true. However, the pandemic has put the imperative to the need for streaming services of our churches, and the comfort call of the couch, pajamas and a cup of tea or coffee is strong. So we drifted.
The thermometer isn’t the culprit it simply tells us something important about our personal health. Church attendance, as such, isn’t the problem, but it does tell us something important about spiritual health.
The message of Psalm 73 is clear and maybe a bit hard to take, under present circumstances. What does it say to you? I think it says that God will judge the wicked and will bless and reward those who have turned away from their self-centeredness, and followed Jesus as their savior. Let your imagination go to our ultimate destination: From the viewpoint of eternity, we will know that it was worth it all, to serve God, no matter what we suffer here on earth.
The author of Psalm 73 is Asaph and he is speaking what many of us are thinking. The wicked in our land seem to be prospering, and, too often, we are jealous. And too often we remain mute. We think God should be punishing the sinful, instead, in our eyes, for the present moment, they appear to be succeeding.
We do need to trust God, even more completely. We need to pray that God will renew our minds and draw us ever closer to Him, minute by minute, each day of our lives.
Michael Foss, in his book Power Surge, speaks of the frustration of pastors and the faithful alike, when he writes that it’s not that we don’t believe anymore, not even that we don’t care. It’s that we simply don’t know what to do and we are tired. Yes, that is what I am feeling in my own church. We do pray to the Lord, what do you have in mind for us, Heavenly Father?
I firmly believe that we need to rest on spiritual/practical facts that our Lord has given us: His time is not our time, so we need to exercise patience. We need to continue to live justly, and to love others, just as He loves us. We need to be merciful, and in all things, walk humbly with God. That is what the Lord told Micah (Micah 6:8), and not surprisingly, that is what he is telling us.
Our thoughts and our actions have created that distance between us and God. He hasn’t moved. He is right here, at ou elbows, in our hearts, closer than a brother/sister. The ball is in our court, we need to be convicted that nothing we do in love and service to the Lord is ever wasted. Amen.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I stand in your strength. You and You alone are the source of my security. Grant me a revelation of Jesus, that I may know Him better and serve Him more fully. Thank you for the gift of your Word and for its truth, its power, and its authority. Teach me to cherish its life-giving promises. Precious Lord, thank You for allowing me to come to You in prayer. Open my heart to hear Your voice. show me how to guide my steps so that the name of Jesus will be exalted through my life. In Jesus name, amen.
