Awestruck in WonderSample

Spiritual Amnesia

How many times have we seen the people of God just get it completely wrong? We’ve seen God in action. He has revealed Himself through supernatural measures, provision, protection, and blessing. We, as God’s people, praise Him for a moment... and then our attention gets caught by something else. We suffer from spiritual amnesia or a little ADHD. Our gratitude fades. We give their affections away to something lesser.

Consider Israel for just a moment. If you start in the book of Judges and go through First Kings and Second Kings, you will see something happen over and over. It’s a cycle. It is not a good cycle; rather, it is a hamster wheel. A judge or king would rise up and honor God, and the people would live with God’s favor and blessing. Then, another judge or king would rise and lead the people to do what was right in their own eyes. So, the nation had to live with the consequences of their folly and under the chastisement of God, for treating Him as optional and becoming far too casual with Him. They missed the fact that: HE is the point of everything!

How quickly our memory fails us! How quickly we become self-focused and self-consumed! We forget God’s greatness, goodness, and love. When Israel served God, they prospered. Yet, again and again, they would fall away and worship idols. We seem to suffer from the same sickness. We need to rightly see who God is and discern what He wants, to respond to Him in awe and wonder—the kind of awe that draws us to repentance and obedience.

So, how do we perceive God? How are we seeing Him? Are we looking for God or only looking out for our own interests? He who created and sustains all things knows us and loves us. He is fully aware of every detail of our lives. What does a god like this want from people like us? He wants our hearts to be aligned with His heart. He wants our trust. He wants our obedience. Why? He created us on purpose for a purpose. Jesus came to give us life abundant, not life barely making it. He is so generous, so loving, and so wise. He wants to do things in and through us to shape this world into His kingdom. That’s what God wants for us!

God, please help me to pursue You with my whole heart.