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Could It Be Me, Lord?
I was reading this passage getting all ready to enter into a time of praise and thanksgiving when I suddenly had this picture of myself under my own feet. Ugh! Shook my head and took another look… no, I was firmly under my own feet. What was God saying? Was I really my own enemy? I pondered this a bit and reluctantly thought this might really be the case.
What makes us our own enemy? High on the list are disobedience and procrastination. Often they go together as a couple. You see very few of us would stand up and deliberately disobey God however we do delay doing whatever it is He has prompted us to do for so long that is becomes outright disobedience. Ouch! Our obedience pleases God and brings His blessings - Jeremiah 7:23. Our disobedience disqualifies us from favour, provokes His angers and can place us in a position of serious risk (Psalm 78). Why go there? We are not the first to disobey. If we look in Jeremiah 18 we see an incredible passage where despite Gods stating His displeasure at the disobedience of Israel they respond …. well, let’s read it..
11 "Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, 'This is what the LORD says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions. 12 But they will reply, 'It's no use. We will continue with our own plans; each of us will follow the stubbornness of his evil heart.' 13 Therefore this is what the LORD says: "Inquire among the nations: Who has ever heard anything like this? A most horrible thing has been done by Virgin Israel.” - Jeremiah 18:11-13 Unbelievable isn’t it! A bold declaration of intentional disobedience. Of course continue reading, it has its consequences. God however is forgiving.If we confess our procrastination and disobedience, He will forgive and restore. There are a lot of decisions we keep putting off for tomorrow or next month (maybe when I get that new job or new house) that we really need to start to doing today if we are really serious about our relationship with God. As I started to go through a list in my mind I realize the items covered so many aspect of my life, attitude at work, personal health care, family life and building my relationship with God. The common theme was self control and discipline. Make my “yes” decisions “now”, not tomorrow and seek motivation and reward from God not those around you. I was reminded of the description of the fruit of the sprit in Galatians 5:22-23, which includes faithfulness (keeping your word) and self – control. Now I am moving from a mental list to actually committing it to paper. I will enter into a time of praise and thanksgiving as I cross off each item on that list as – DONE.
Prayer Guide Pray that God strengths you in the sprit so that you can stand in your resolve and resist distractions and rationalisation that would draw you away from procrastination and bring obedience today. How to Keep Meditating I firmly believe in keeping memorials, our memory does fade with time. There are two options below consider both of them. Make that List
Make that list detailing all the decisions and changes you know you have been putting off. Make each one a prayer daily until you can cross it off and put DONE and the date of completion. Do this in a note book that you can refer to over and over again an marvel at the faithfulness of God A Song of Meditation
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