Judges 2:10
After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the LORD or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel.
The picture above kind of relates the truth about the attitude of our society today, as does the verse from Judges.
We have a generation that is coming up who are going to be outside the will of God simply because they did not understand the importance of having a relationship with God. Now in the verse from Judges, the term "acknowledge" means that the people rejected God. Even though God had revealed himself through out the exodus from Egypt, providing time and time again what ever Israel needed to survive, this new generation turned their collective backs on God.
It's hard for me to get upset with them, as I did the same thing back in the day. The year....1972. I had just gotten married and we were living out on our own. My wife and I were going to college and working full time jobs. Come Sunday's....we were both kind of spent (or so we thought). We began to stay home and not go to church. We stopped reading our Bibles. We quit praying. Instead Sunday mornings became a day where we lounged around the apartment, reading the paper, drinking coffee and watching TV. We thought we had the good life. We knew better.....We knew that what we were doing was wrong, but we disrespected the path that God desired us to walk. Nothing happened at first........there wasn't any major catastrophes to draw us back to God. In fact, life was good, or so we thought. All the while this was going on, we knew, in the back of our minds, that we were taking ourselves outside the will and protection of God. We continued on though.
This behavior stretched into 7 years of churchless Sunday's.
With each passing month, our relationship with each other began to suffer.
She hated me and I did not want to be around her.
We had rejected God. We would not acknowledge Him in any shape, form or fashion. Because of this attitude, things got worse. We never said the "D" word out loud but it became a possibility for what we were going through. The "D" word? Divorce. I'm sorry that you might think I'm exaggerating about this, but I'm not. Sitting here today, looking back over our past history, there is no doubt in my mind or my heart that what we went through during that dark time in our life was because of our rejection of God and our own stubbornness.
I'm glad to say that we both came to our senses and returned to God. God was very gracious to put people around us who kept dropping bread crumbs, so to speak, that provided us a way back into relationship with God.
Why am I writing this today?
Because if you are struggling and fighting in any area of your life today, it may be because you've refused to acknowledge God and His will. The problems you have been overwhelmed by may be a result of your stubbornness and refusal to come to God.
I talk with man after man whose lives have become the proverbial train wreck.
Broken homes...
Legal issues....
Health issues....
Estranged from family.....
Yet they are so full of pride and stubbornness concerning God, that they refuse to bend will or knee to be brought back into right standing with God.
Don't let this be the attitude that separates you from God.
Listen to your heart and listen for the voice of God inside you that is calling you back to a relationship with Him.
If we can ever be of help in any way to you, please drop me an E-mail (rapha7@bellsouth.net) or place a comment here at the Greene Street Letters. You are not alone in this struggle, we want to be here for you and with you.
God on you......
mb
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