April 6
Deut 29:1-30:20 | PS 78:1-31 | Prov 12:19-20 | Luke 11:37-12:7
The truth is God is never very far from any of us, but it is often us who choose to be far from God. As a physician practicing for many years, I have the blessing and opportunity to engage with many patients. The truth is each and every person needs God. It is often the brokenness that comes with life's difficulties which makes one receptive to God. So many believe that they are good, that their lives are good, that they have planned their lives well and receiving the fullness that life has to offer, all without God. When God is mentioned, the message often falls on deaf ears, as they really don't see any reason or feel any compulsion to change the way they are living. But when calamity strikes due to mistakes on their own or due to situations seemingly out of their control, that is when ears and eyes open. We, as God's messengers, often don't know when these opportunities will arise, when one will be receptive. That is why we must be diligent and sober minded to be ready to plant those seeds of the Good News of Jesus Christ when such times occur. Like with my patients, when speaking to colleagues in the hospital, there are those who are open, and so many who seem to glaze over, as though a veil is pulled over their eyes, or loud music is deafening them, whenever the mention of Jesus Christ happens.
As the Israelites spent those forty years in the wilderness, God was right there in the midst of them, yet they often failed to see Him. We read in Deuteronomy 29:2-4, "You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land—the great trials which your eyes have seen, the signs, and those great wonders. Yet the Lord has not given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear, to this very day." Physically present at the center of their camp, with miracle upon miracle performed, yet for the most part, they missed Him. It was not God who was too far away. Many feel they have what they need, without God, as we read in 29:19, "and so it may not happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall have peace, even though I follow the dictates of my heart’—as though the drunkard could be included with the sober." What they failed to realize was that it was never God who distanced themselves from them, but they distanced themselves from God, as we read in 30:11-14, "For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it."
Paul quotes this portion of Deuteronomy in Romans 10:6-8, then states the simplicity of what our response must be in 10:9, "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Our past does not prevent us from entering into a relationship, no matter how bad that might be. Our future, both on earth and eternity does not block us. It is often the heart. Many state that God knows their heart, but "the heart is desperately wicked; who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9). Those who have not entered into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ feel that they really don’t need Him. They feel that they got this thing called life the way they want it, and it is good enough. That unbroken way of thinking is left unopen to God's touch. May we pray for eyes to see, and ears to hear.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: