One night, when I was in high-school, I knelt on top of my bed in my room to pray. Growing up in another country, it was common for many of us to go away to school. Being two hundred miles away from my parents, I loved telling Jesus in detail all about my day. As my weary body couldn’t keep up with the length of my prayer, I made a nose-dive to the floor scaring my roommates and waking myself from my ‘sweet time with Jesus’.
Since that time, traumatized by that event, I’ve learned to wake up early to read and pray … with coffee at my right hand, just in case.
Have you ever delighted so much in that special time in God’s word and prayer that you lost track of time?
The sixty six books of the Bible overjoy me with the richness of its true stories about heroes, grace stories about no-hopers, wise counsel for smarty-pants, practical principles about money, marriage, and relationships, exciting literary genres, and history that makes sense to my mixed up mind.
I can find myself drinking in its beauty for hours, until my growling stomach propels me to the fridge to feed my body.
As special as that time in prayer and bible study is, it’s not enough. God expects more from me than the time I set aside to LISTEN.
In Ezekiel 33 we see how the Israelites appreciated only the artistic nature of God’s message, having no intention to act on it. To them God was someone who “sings love songs with a beautiful voice or plays fine music” on a heavenly harp.
“So my people come pretending to be sincere and sit before you. They listen to your words, but they have no intention of doing what you say. … You are very entertaining to them …” Ezekiel 33:31-32 NLT
Now let’s be careful that we don’t simply just shake our hearts in disagreement with how the Israelites responded to God’s message …
Not to be a shin-kicker (that’s all I can do as someone who is only 4′ 11″), but as Bible readers we’re familiar with the ‘thou shall nots’ of God’s message. Yet, we are often not as tough on sin as it penetrates the walls of our church, the roofs of our homes, the circles of our friendships, the intimacy of our rooms, even our devices connected to the internet.
We’re quick to shout to the world our view on abortion, murder, adultery, and drug abuse. Yet we’re slow to implement the godly principles relevant to our own battles: judging, gossiping, comparing ourselves to others, fighting for control, resenting, worrying, being unforgiving, living with regret, doubting God’s goodness, and so much more.
When we simply get entertained by God’s song of love, we only fool ourselves. As we applaud the beauty and richness of his Word, may our hearts connect to His, yearning to apply His perfect precepts that set us free.
Stay marvelled at God’s Word. Stay moved by His Word.
Read & Meditate: James 1:22-25
“But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.”