Hi, Samara.
Hope you had a great weekend at that retreat. I look forward to hearing more about it.
Yesterday morning, Mama Becki and I did a little walk/jog under umbrellas in the rain. Then after church a friend mentioned to me that he’s been wanting to go snowboarding again. Impulsively I asked, “How about tonight?” To make that story short, we did! Being as warm as it was (a bit above freezing) along with some rain, we still managed to have some good fun and exercise at Skibowl. Part of the fun was to check into the status of the SUPERBOWL game while riding up the chair—and be highly entertained by that amazing comeback of the Patriots led by Tom Brady. Wow! That was fun!
That excursion kind of blocked getting this devo launched. So here’s for yesterday. Today’s is yet to come.
Love, Tua.
This description applies to more than an “adulteress.” Hang on the phrase—“she knows it not.” That has to be one of the saddest yet most universal states of being known to mankind—the mindset that allows one’s life and behavior to be driven by FEELINGS of immediate gratification, personal preference, or social conformity rather than by a clear KNOWLEDGE of cause and effect, and by personal responsibilities before Creator God that motivate one to KNOW how to align with His purposes. Whew! That’s a big sentence! It’s also a big challenge for all of us! Yet it’s still relatively simple once you basically KNOW who’s who and what’s what—relatively easy when compared with the consequences of NOT KNOWING. On that basis, the KNOWING option is a “piece of cake!”
As I search my mind for an illustration to support this principle, for some reason my reflection leads to the story of Naaman in 2 Kings 5. He was a “big gun” in Syria (Aram), but there was a very big BUT in his description—“BUT he had leprosy.” He knew he had leprosy. He knew that fact didn’t make him happy. He knew what the prophet Elisha told him to do so as to be healed. BUT it didn’t sound like something he preferred to do—it sounded too simple—and it completely ignored what a cool, arrogant, well-accomplished dude he really was—or thought he was. He didn’t KNOW how simple, accessible, and supernatural was his solution—until, of course, he finally humbled himself and obeyed the simple order.
Do you see the point? Every person is a beautiful creation of God with great potential for being fulfilled and pleasing his Maker—BUT, at the same time every person is afflicted with the terminal illness of SIN—a condition far worse than leprosy. They KNOW something is seriously amiss, but they don’t KNOW exactly what it is or how to fix it. Without God providing a solution and turning on one’s lights so as to see and KNOW that solution, everyone is just floundering in the dark. The big crazy problem is that most people actually prefer their DARK (ignorance and non-truth) to God’s LIGHT (Truth and solution)—and just carry on “whistling in the dark” (fabricating man-made theories, religions, and philosophies) in an effort to cloak and curb their fear of the UNKNOWN. (Read again John 3:16-21.)