When our youngest son was about two years old, I had to make sure I heard him wake up in the morning. If I didn’t get to him in time, he would go to the refrigerator, get the apple juice out and try to pour himself a glass of apple juice. It would be all over the floor and under the refrigerator and I would have a sticky mess to clean up not to mention that we would be out of apple juice again. That was one of the many ways he tried to do things for himself. All he had to do was come to me and ask and I would help him, but he seemed unaware of that and generally thought he needed to do things for himself.
“After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.” Judges 2:10
As I read the book of Judges, I see a people who generation after generation would forget that they had a God who loved them and would take care of them. So, like my son, they would try to do things for themselves and make a big mess. The Lord would let them go for a while and live in bondage and then, “the Lord had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them.” Judges 2:18b In his compassion, the Lord would send them another Judge, someone who knew God and followed him, who would lead the people out of bondage again. But as soon as that Judge was gone, the people would go right back to worshiping other gods and, therefore, right back into bondage.
I wonder if we have learned anything from the history recorded in the Bible. I look at churches today… a new church will grow up led by someone with real passion for God and for leading his people to victorious lives. As time goes on, several things happen. Sometimes the leader gets prideful of what ‘he’ accomplished forgetting it was God who was doing the work. Sometimes the leader moves on to plant another church and new leaders come in who are less passionate. People get comfortable in the established congregation and follow the rituals without their hearts being passionate for Christ. While the parents have distant memories of what God has done, the children are clueless – they haven’t been taught and it isn’t an ongoing experience, so they are not learning who God is and how he works in their daily lives. And so the church grows cold and after a while begins to dwindle in attendance and eventually dies out or carries on with a mostly dead body.
So I wonder, where does the passion come from that keeps a church body alive and well? We have something that those Israelites didn’t have – we live in a time after Jesus came and took on human flesh, died and was resurrected and gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit. "For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit." Ephesians 2:18 We don’t have to wait for a judge or priest to take us back to the Lord. We can approach him every day and ask for his help with every battle in our lives. I somehow think the passion comes from knowing how much he has done for us and how much we need him. And if we are humble enough to admit that, not only will he ‘show up’ and help us, but our children will see our dependence upon God and learn to also walk with him. I don’t think passion is something that can be passed on, but it is something that must be learned through personal experience with God. Yes, we can get a ‘buzz’ from being next to someone who is passionate, but it will not ‘stick'.
How rich we are! We have a compassionate God who loves us. We don’t have to wade around in the sticky messes we make for ourselves. We can ask him for help. And he is faithful… “For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” Psalm 100:5
No comments:
Post a Comment