June 18, Day 25

1 Kings 7:13 - 1 Kings 15:34

So I need to set a bit of context for this posting as it relates to current events. I have a habit in the morning of having my quiet time and Bible reading and then glancing at the headlines in the paper. However on this day, I decided I would go get the paper from the box first (and of course glance at the headlines) before I opened my Bible. So the current events focused my reading and though there was a lot in this reading, there was one glaring thing that popped out at me.

Currently in our country there is a huge "social experiment" going on. I've chosen to call it that despite what it really is -blatant defiance of God and His order. California has just "legalized" same sex marriage. and it just went into effect a few days ago. California doesn't have a residency requirement for someone to be wed there so essentially people from all over the country can come and be "married" and then go back to their home state. In essence it will be only a matter of time before they start demanding that other states recognize this marriage and provide the same benefits as traditional marriage. (Oh what a slippery slope we're on... but I can't focus on that right now.) In the paper the headline read, "Gays wed in California." I knew the day was coming as it had been talked about for several days. Yet, I also know God will not be mocked... and so I was wondering if God would intervene in any way to make Himself known or to stop this from happening. What I realized is we have a patient and long suffering God.

As I began reading today, I read how Solomon built the temple in its ornate fashion to workshop and "house" the Lord. Nothing was too opulent for the Lord's house. Then the ark of the covenant was brought into the Temple and God's presence filled the temple with a cloud of his Glory. While this was happening Solomon blessed the people with a prayer of praise and dedication. Then the Lord appeared to Solomon and acknowledged the prayer and plea Solomon had made (1 Kings 9:3)... in verse 6 is really what caught my attention....

"But if you or your sons turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this Temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will become a byword and an object of ridicule among all people." (1 Kings 9:6-7)

This is a strong warning to the Israelites. They'd just sacrificed on God's behalf to build the temple. They - at the present time - were not completely rebelling against Him, yet He felt it necessary to warn them what would happen.

Are we not the same as Israel today here in the United States? Did God not bless us abundantly in the past because of our faithfulness as a people and our founding father's foresight to follow Him in establishing our republic? Should we not be as the Israelites, sacrificing on His behalf realizing our best still pales in comparison from His due worship? Yet, as we grow further and further into our post-modern age and we become less and less reliant on Him, we are worshiping other gods... gods of self, gods of material possessions, gods of work, etc... We are proclaiming ourselves to be above reproach or without need for God and His laws. California is thumbing their nose at God right now with this one action... but are we not all guilty?

The headlines in the paper were also reading about the record floods going on in the Midwest, the tornadoes that recently hit parts of the country and other events. There was even a quote from someone in Iowa who admittedly was an agnostic - but said "I think God is just telling us that He is in control and we are not." (loosely paraphrased from the original quote.) Is this not what is happening? God is trying to tell us we are not in control. He will allow us to make our own decisions - no matter how bad they are - but we must also suffer for the consequences.

To our detriment however, we see ourselves as Californians and Iowans... not as Americans. We don't recognize that the decisions that one of us makes affects the larger part of us all. And until we all cry out in repentance on behalf of some of the collective sins of our country, God will be long suffering in exacting total judgement - but He will always make Himself known... sometimes by using weather patterns and other times by being silent and letting us put the noose around our own neck....

Won't you join me in crying out on behalf of our country... "God shed your grace on thee!"