We begin to read today that parts of Israel are already being taken captive by Assyria. In today's short reading, this verse stood out:
These were the heads of their families: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah and Jahdiel. They were brave warriors, famous men, and heads of their families. But they were unfaithful to the God of their fathers and prostituted themselves to the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them. So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria (that is, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria), who took the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh into exile. (1 Chronicles 5:24-26)
The first two sentences seem to elevate these men, but only to set up the contrast for their failure described in the next two. It looks to me like a drawn contrast between success defined by people and success defined by God. By their social standards, these men looked successful: they were leaders, respected warriors and they had fame. But, there is a 'but' - they were unfaithful to God! They bowed to false gods; they worshiped something else than God. The result was their fall in captivity. I don't think success itself was their problem. God had raised kings before to great success. But the question is: when success was given to those men, who did they glorify: themselves or God? Or better yet: successful or not, were they faithful to God? Again, as Steve wrote yesterday: “God desires the heart, not the outward signs.” Where was their heart?
So despite our outward success, or even seemingly a lack of one, are we faithful to God? Do we feel like we can talk to God as best friends, faithful and unashamed. And if not, what needs to change? What is it that we need forgiveness for and a new start for? God is our best friend and as such He forgives us. He wants for us a successful relationship with Him and only He can enable us for it.
Questions:
1. Do you seem to be doing great in one area, but you are unfaithful to God in another? How is this affecting your relationship with Him?
2. What things might be hard for you to talk about openly with God?
No comments:
Post a Comment