Wednesday, April 7, 2010

"Taking For Granted"

"Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts." Zechariah 7:13


Spring is such a beautiful time. Everything is so fresh and colorful. I remember thinking a few years ago that I wish it were spring time all year round. Upon that thought I felt like the Lord spoke to me and said, "If it was spring time all year long you would take the beauty of it for granted". How true. After a while we would grow tired of it and take it for granted because it would become commonplace.

Human nature is like that. We tend to take things and people for granted after a while. Especially after the "newness" wears off. We think that that thing or person is always going to be there, and we expect it. If we aren't careful we can take the Lord for granted too and we can begin to get lax and lazy in our relationship with Him. If we don't guard against it we can develop a mind set that thinks that we can go day after day without communicating with Him, allow other things to take precedence above Him and allow other things to choke out our time in fellowship with Him because He has promised to never leave us.

Just because He promises to be with me, doesn't mean that I can take Him for granted and then when I am in trouble cry out and expect Him to come running to my rescue. He also said, "Draw near to me and I will draw near to you". He may not come right away, at least not until you repent for taking Him for granted. The Israelites learned this the hard way when they had neglected the Lord and then presumed that all they had to do was take the ark (the represented presence of God) into the battle and they would be assured victory. Well, they didn't win, they lost and the ark was taken captive.

The point is: you cannot take God for granted and then think that He is just going to "drop everything" and "bail you out" when you get in trouble. He is a God to be revered and feared. He is a God that requires, desires and should have first place in your life... all the time. Not just in times of trouble, not just on Sundays, not just when you can "squeeze" Him in.

If that is you this morning, if you have been taking God for granted and think you can neglect your relationship/communication with Him and that He is going to come to your rescue the moment you call, think again, there is no guarantee that He will. But if you will call out in repentance over your neglect of Him and for taking Him for granted, you can rest assured that He will answer that- He always comes and answers the prayer of repentance.

Have a great day. If you are taking your relationship with God for granted... repent and give Him first place.

For further reading:
James 4:8
1 Samuel 4
Matthew 6:33

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