My recent posts have been about the minor prophets of the Old Testament, my most recent one comparing the mistakes I routinely make to stepping out in front of buses, all of which I should be able to avoid if only I'd read about those foolish Old Testament people screwing up time and time again. I'd like to detail what some of those buses look like.
One major stumbling block for those Israelites as well as for me is good times. God puts it like this in Hosea:
"I knew you in the wilderness,
In the land of great drought.
When they had pasture, they were filled;
They were filled and their heart was exalted;
Therefore, they forgot Me." (Hosea 13:5-6)
In the wilderness, I'm awful good at cozying up to God: God, heal me. Send rain. Keep my car running for another month. Help me find a job. And survive this one. Save me, God. I'm desperate.
Too often, though, getting out of trouble is my quickest ticket back into real trouble. Once I'm safe and secure (or at least feel that way), it's easy to do as Hosea's wife did and go out and be a prostitute again with my attention and devotion. God who? Oh, yeah, thanks God. Good job. I'll call you next week.
To be filled and have a heart exalted is a dangerous place to be. It would be sinful to see it as bad. Blessings are good. We should celebrate what we've been given. But I know I have to work hard to recognize that the pitfall exists if I'm lazy or not looking both ways. When times are good, when money is plentiful, when security abounds and the cupboards are full, I know that in order to miss getting hit by that bus, I've got to remember that the money, the food, and the security are blessings from God, not gods themselves.
"In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me," says God (Hosea 5:15). If I earnestly seek even when times are good, I'm guessing I'll find that the joy that all the blessings bring me pales in comparison.
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Great points, friend. I was listening to a preacher this week who said, "Israel never did well with blessing. They tended to do real well with a whack to the head." And I'm the same. I certainly prayed like never before earlier this spring when I didn't know when I was getting my next paycheck. Now that the money is coming in regularly, I'm so busy earning it that my prayer time gets shoved to the back burner. I want to earnestly seek even when times are good myself.
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