Building for God

And though this temple is now imposing, all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, “Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple? (1 Kings 9:8)

After the dedication of the temple, the Lord appears to Solomon to remind him of the blessings and curses of the covenant. If Solomon and the people of Israel will walk in God’s ways, God will dwell with them forever and the house of David will never fail to rule over Israel. But if they turn away from God and his commandments then Israel will be cut off from the land and the temple destroyed. Of course we know that they did indeed disobey, and the beautiful temple that was dedicated that day was utterly destroyed by the Babylonians four hundred years later.

How often in human history have the greatest works of man fallen into decay and disrepair? In fact, don’t they always seem to fall? And not just the physical monuments, but all human institutions? How many schools, churches and governments have been build for God but later turned away from walking in his ways? The fallen nature of mankind affects everything we do. It would be easy to despair, but thanks be to God –
that is not the end of the story! Jesus came to bring new life. He is the antidote to the poison of sin. He is the light of the world, John says. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (Jn 1:5 ESV) And his promise to us is, “Behold, I am making all things new.” (Rev 21:5 ESV)

Lord, I want to learn obedience at your feet. I pray that my sin would not undermine what you are doing today in this world. Shine your light into my life. Create in me a clean heart. Use me to accomplish something for your eternal Kingdom. Amen.

Seriousness of Sin

They are godless men, who change the grace of God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ, our only Sovereign and Lord. (Jude 4)

When I’m reading the Bible it’s pretty easy to slip right past a verse like this – condemning an ancient heresy that is so obviously wrong we would never expect to find it in our churches. Jude condemns those who take the grace of God as license to sin, and thus deny the Lordship of Christ. Paul was accused of a similar heresy (Rom 3:7-8 and 6:1-2) when he preached about grace. I have read Romans and I understand that we obey God out of love and willing surrender even when we are no longer under condemnation. So...next verse please!

Not so fast. Am I ever guilty of treating my sin too lightly? Do I ever forget how repugnant it is to God and what it cost him to atone for it? Yes. In the Old Testament it sometimes seems like God was destroying sinners right and left. Why would he do that? He is showing us the seriousness of sin. Jude went on to make the same point in the next verse: “Though you already know this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.” (v5) Even for some seemingly minor infractions the law required a sacrifice to remind the people of the seriousness of sin.

Now I am not under the law but under grace. (Rom 6:14) I do not need to bring a sacrifice but I do need to remember the seriousness of my sin. When I sin, I must remember the cross. The Lord Jesus Christ paid an inestimably high price to buy my salvation. Lord, forgive me for the many times I take my sin lightly. I dismiss it with a quick, casual prayer of repentance, and then I do the same thing again a few hours later. I don’t ever want to take grace as a license to sin. Convict me, and remind me of the gravity of my sin. Remind me of the cross, where you bore my sin in agony and desolation. Remind me of the cross, where you purchased my freedom. Amen.

Sin's Bitter Aftertaste

Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious! (Pro 9:17)

This is the siren call of Folly, personified in Proverbs 9 as a woman who lures the foolish into her house. What is the enticement she offers? It is something for nothing: sin without consequences. But she is a deceiver, because sin always has consequences. God’s commandments are good, and when we break them we are acting against our own best interests. Even what we do in secret – what we think we can get away with – will lead to our destruction. The thief thinks he will not be caught, but will he truly evade justice? Even if he is never found out, he will reap the consequences in his own soul. Sin is corrosive to our spirits. The unbeliever brings condemnation on himself when he sins, and the believer breaks fellowship with God. God calls us to repentance when we sin, but what he truly desires is our obedience. The Holy Spirit empowers and God’s Word instructs. We are not fools. We know that the sin which tastes sweet in our mouths will turn to bitterness in our hearts. By God’s grace we can choose obedience. Lord, I choose your way. Amen.

Living With Integrity

The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity. (Pro 11:3)

It seems like every month we hear of some new ethics scandal of a Congressman or prominent pastor. Someone who had been held in such high esteem turns out to have been cheating on his wife or embezzling or not paying his taxes. How many fall into the trap of thinking, “No one will ever know?” But then they are found out, and their duplicity destroys not only their own lives but those of their families as well.

How often am I tempted by the same thought? “No one will ever know.” It is a lie. God knows from the very beginning. Our lives are an open book to him. But if we give in to temptation anyway, no matter how small the transgression, we have stepped onto the path of destruction. I imagine each of those failed leaders started small. No one wakes up one day and says, “I think I’ll have an affair today” or “I bet I could steal a million dollars from my company and no one would notice.” It begins with an attitude of entitlement. “Why shouldn’t I enjoy the benefits of my position?” And of course, the deadly, “No one will ever know.” But one wrong step is soon followed by another, and one day we wake up to realize our lives are a shambles.

Lord, make me wise not to fall for this lie. Keep me on the path of the upright. I will be truthful to you and all those around me. My life is an open book to you. May it please you and honor you in every detail. Amen.

Does God Change His Mind?

If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. (Jer 18:7-8)

Here we see a clear explanation for why God sometimes appears to change his mind. He is warning them of the potential consequences of their actions. Verses 9-10 also speak of how he may withdraw his blessing when a nation does evil. Jeremiah is prophesying the destruction of Judah in the context of Judah’s apostasy. God wants them to understand clearly that the prophesied judgment is only a fulfillment of the conditional promises of the covenant he made with Israel. God himself does not change and his covenant is not revoked, but God responds to the choices we make, according to the promises by which he has bound himself.

Blessings and Curses

The Lord will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him. (Deut 28:20)

There are many wonderful promises in the Bible, but there are a few that are terrifying. Moses spoke this promise to the people of Israel as they were about to enter the Promised Land. God, speaking through Moses, was reviewing with them one more time the terms of the covenant he had made with them. It is a covenant with both blessings and curses. Most of God’s promises have a flipside like that, although it is often unspoken. These promises present us with a choice. If we reject him, there are always consequences. God is not to be ignored or taken lightly. Lord, forgive me for frequently being so casual and noncommittal toward your commandments and your promises. It is not the outright rebellion that I often fall prey to, but the self-satisfied complacency and the distractions of the moment. Help me to be totally committed to you. When I am tempted to sin, remind me that the path of disobedience is dark, but the path of obedience is bright and blessed.

Repentance and Restoration

I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten. (Joel 2:25a ESV)

Joel prophesies about a time when a great swarm of locusts has invaded Israel like a marauding army and has consumed everything in its path. The result is great famine and suffering. God sent the locusts in judgment for their sin, but then he calls them to repentance. In his call for repentance he makes this great promise: “I will restore to you the years the locusts have eaten.”

God’s mercy is so great. We know that sin has consequences and sin brings judgment. Sin destroys the sinner, and robs him of all joy and peace. But God is so generous to us when we repent that he will restore the years we have lost. Of course, we can’t literally go back and live that time again. Much that was destroyed remains so. But he restores our hearts and heals our wounds. And he redeems the lost years by finding a way to use for good what we had meant for evil. (Rom 8:28, Gen 50:20)

This promise means so much to me because I strayed from God for so many years. When I first came back to him I felt such a profound sense of loss at the time I had wasted. But God showed me that he had used those years to teach me a lesson I could learn in no other way. And now I can share with others the truth that was so dearly bought in my life: that God is merciful and good, and that he deserves my full devotion.

Lord, for those whom I hurt in my time of rebellion, for those who may also have strayed because of me, I pray that you would show them the mercy you have shown me. I pray that this promise would one day be theirs – that you would restore the years the locusts have eaten. I believe that if you let them persist on their wayward path it is only because there are lessons they can learn no other way. I pray they would learn them quickly. Amen.