Our God and Father is longsuffering. His chastisements are never for our destruction but for our benefit. And if there is one thing that gets His anger kindled, it is when we - His Church - behaves like the world around us.
2 Kings 21:1-2 [NKJV]
Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hephzibah. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
Scripture goes on to list some of the specifics of Manasseh's behavior, but today let us focus on the second half of verse 2: according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
The nations referred to in this passage are Israel's neighbors. For us, the application goes to our own worship and "corporate" behavior. The people of the world around us sing about themselves - everything is about me, me, me. As God's children, who are in the world but not of it, shouldn't we examine our own songs? Many are also about me, me, me - instead of about God, God, God, or even we, we, we! Yes, it is a personal relationship with God, but our corporate time of praise is no longer about just individual selves, but about our Lord and the body He has assembled before Himself. When we blindly sing about ourselves, we start to look and sound like the nations that God has cast out... like the unsaved world.
For leaders, the burden is especially acute. For the Lord holds them highly accountable for how they direct those in their care. Manasseh, Israel's leader in that day, has a name that means "forgotten." God makes sure that we know that He was displeased with this king. Let us not be the ones who forget that we are sanctified and set apart; that we are not to resemble the world. Let us resemble Christ. Let us worship in spirit and truth.
Be encouraged, Jose
No comments:
Post a Comment