I now understand the empathetic emotions that the prophets experienced as they tried to speak to Israel and make them aware that they were going down the wrong road. I see the anguish they must have felt at having those they talk to belittle and dismiss what they said.
I see those about me stating and strongly believing they are in good standing with God, then I see things like this last Sunday where all their worship and praise did not go to God, but to a group of men upon a field. The new gladiators of the modern era.
Now I know that we are to live our lives in moderation, but this is not moderate behavior. This is worship, this is praise, and this is glorification. They placed all their emotions into the event. They watched like it was a religious ceremony. Afraid to leave where they were, afraid they would miss something spectacular. Yet it was not the God they profess to service or honor, but other humans.
Yet to them God is great for a few minutes a day, but the rest of the day belongs to them and what they truly wish to worship. They pull out God when it is convenient for them, when they wish to show the world their goodness, their piety. They compartmentalize each part of their lives, only showing that which is important to them at that particular moment. Seeking for their own glory and reward in this temporal time and place.
As they do this they find it unpleasant when someone points out that this is not the true way to worship God. They get upset when they are shown it is not something they can walk away from at the drop of a hat like they do when it come to the things of God. All I can hear is 2 Peter going through my head.
2 Peter 2:18-22 (NLT)
18 They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With an appeal to twisted sexual desires, they lure back into sin those who have barely escaped from a lifestyle of deception. 19 They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you. 20 And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before. 21 It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life. 22 They prove the truth of this proverb: “A dog returns to its vomit.” And another says, “A washed pig returns to the mud.”
And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before. It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life.
People need to wake up and see where they are heading. In their minds they see salvation and glory, but their actions seek out the rewards and pleasures of the world. How truly saddening it is to have the eyes that see and the ears that hear.
May the true glory of God shine upon as many as possible that will see the true light and turn from the path into the darkness and back to the true light of eternal salvation and reward. Amen.