O Father, how Your heart must ache when Your people choose to turn away from You!
You have given me all I need for an abundant life, yet the society I live in, and the one the Israelites lived in, pulls people away from You to continually seek after other things.
When the kings over Your people were bad, they worshipped idols in the open, even sacrificing living children by fire. They fought battles according to their own strength, or bought allies with the treasures from Your Temple.
When the kings were not evil, and led the people back to worship You, they still did not remove the high places and Asherah poles, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.
The values and attitudes of their society had become so evil, that this behavior was accepted by even the good kings. But it was not acceptable by You. And eventually You sent armies from the east to conquer and capture Your people, taking them into exile. This was as You had promised. You outlined their options for blessing and cursing, and they made their choice.
Lord, how often in my life do I allow the ungodly values of my society to sway me, divert me from what You have told me is true? Often what is evil is accepted as good. And even the good leaders abide by it as if it were ok.
Do we think as a society that there will be no accounting? That’s what the Israelites thought. Didn’t work out so well for them. And I fear it won’t work out in my times either.
When Your Word spread in Ephesus, people who practiced sorcery burned their scrolls, and idol worshippers stopped buying the silver idols. But as the economic impact increased, so did the opposition!
Society today would also prefer that believers keep their faith to themselves. When it begins to impact political issues or economic factors, there is friction.
Father, as You have called me to live in the world, You have also separated me, set me apart from it. Help me understand how to be ”in” the world while being separate from it. Remind me to question values, holding them up against what Your Word says. Only then will I know I am on solid ground.
Show me if there is any value or attitude I need to change to be right with You. And strengthen me to do it; amid, or even against, the pull of society. Amen
Daily Bible Prayer 