Sunday, July 19, 2009

The Kingdom of God here, in our families?

Good service this morning, even with the slight distraction I had knowing as soon as we left church Dewey would be pulling out for this final week.

Bro Bud shared from Isaiah. He shared about how we slowly walk out of fellowship with God in our lives. Sometimes obvious and purposefully, and other times subtle steps that we only notice once we've moved a great distance.

Something to think about this Lord's Day afternoon as we spend time after church, or between church meetings.

How often do you sit at the computer and visit before or instead of visiting with God?
Where do you really look for your strength -- a yahoo group? A fellow blogger? An email friend?
What guides your daily decision-making -- a deep relationship with God, enjoying His Word and finding wisdom and direction within? Or the posting of a homeschool friend, a blogger sharing their ideas of a Godly life, or a prepper buddy's latest information?
Who do you seek out first with sorrow or with joy?

We all take some of these steps everyday. Sometimes we make them without thinking really. I mean, we had our reading from Psalms or Proverbs this morning, right? We're doing the 'Through The Bible in a Year' reading, right?

But when did you last really study His Word? What about just spending time to enjoy reading His Word? When did you go to His Word out of a conscious deliberate decision to get into His Fellowship again? When was the last time you decided that you weren't interested in a television show, or a movie and had a desire to see what God had to say instead?

We walk away from fellowship by continually choosing our wants over His Desire for us. We want to visit with friends...and turn away from the friendship He offers. We want to watch that show or that movie...and we walk away from spending time in His Word. We turn on some music while we go about the tasks of our day...and we close our ears to His Still, Small Voice.

Just little steps really, but each one takes us farther from The Kingdom of God here in our families every day. We don't always notice the distance we've covered because we often take a few steps forward and a step or two back again, by grabbing that 'obligatory' daily devotional.

Used to be families held The Lord's Day sacred. Nothing came between you and your family Bible time daily. Father's were the strong and alert gatekeeper's of their homes that they should be. Mothers guided their children with a deep respect for the rules of the homes befitting the calling of God. They were encouraged, exhorted, and admonished to maintain not only their private times with The Lord, but no excuses were made for a lack of family altar time either.

Now families can't even manage to have a family dinner, let alone a family Bible reading time.

We have walked away from The Kingdom of God. He hasn't forsaken us...we have forsaken Him.

2 comments:

Naturally Blessed Mama said...

Very convicting post! So much of the time we don't realize what we're doing before we've gone off the deep end. And then it's a hard climb back up that hill to get back to where we need to be, where the Lord is waiting patiently for us to realize we're making the wrong choices. Praise God for that grace and mercy he always has for us, no matter how far we've fallen. And shame on us, for not having the same kind of love and respect for Him that He gives us.

Thanks for sharing...
Sara

Diane of CA said...

I agree with you & BlessedMom's comment...I am on that hill & yes, HIS mercy & grace are sufficient.
I am on my way...

Jer.6:16

Jeremiah 6:16
Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.

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