The “IF” That Leads Us Back To “LIFE”
This past week, the fiasco of canceled flights day after day by Southwest Airlines disrupted the plans and lives of thousands who were counting on Southwest to get them to and from their holiday destinations. Southwest’s customers were not just inconvenienced, many were harmed physically, psychologically and financially. If Southwest wants to earn back the trust and business of these airline passengers, they will be required to reach out to those that they have harmed, offer them restitution and implement meaningful changes in the way they operate going forward. In 2 Chronicles 7:12-22, God spoke to King Solomon. God would make the newly built temple a place where He would accept the sacrifices and hear the prayers of His people. Moreover, He would honor His covenant with David as it related to Solomon’s reign. But If Solomon and God’s people dishonored God by disobeying Him and chasing after other gods, there would be disastrous consequences. God would only forgive and restore them from these consequences if they would humbly pray to Him, seek Him and turn away from their sin. I pray that as you enter this new year, that you would genuinely seek God’s forgiveness and restoration wherever it is needed in your life. Amen
the LORD appeared to him at night and said:
“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.
“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. (2 Chronicles 7:12-16). This is the second time that God appeared to Solomon (see 2 Chron. 1:7). In this encounter, God first promised Solomon that if Israel was punished for disobedience and unfaithfulness (shut up the heavens… See previous warnings Deut. 11:17), then He would hear them, forgive them and heal them when they wholeheartedly turned back to him and turned away from their sin. God would accept their sacrifices and hear their prayers offered in the temple that Solomon built. However it was not the temple that guaranteed God’s presence and blessings, it was the obedience and faithfulness of the people that God was looking for. Unfortunately, Israel failed to be obedient and faithful to God. Their attempts to seek God’s presence and protection were insincere and lacked any genuine change of heart. God’s people still miss the mark of the relationship that God desires with them. Too many rely on belonging to a church verses truly belonging to God. God requires genuine repentance when we trespass against Him in our relationship with Him.
But “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws, I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to rule over Israel.’
“But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. This temple will become a heap of rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the LORD, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them —that is why he brought all this disaster on them.’” (2 Chronicles 7:17-22). After God’s promise to Solomon regarding His people, God turned His attention to Solomon. God promised Solomon that He would honor His covenant with David to keep a descendant of his on the throne, if Solomon will walk with Him the way his father David did. If not, Israel would suffer. God made it clear that Israel’s purpose was to point people toward Him. Israel would serve God’s purpose one way or another…Either because they were so blessed that people had to take notice, or because they were so disobedient that God made them a cautionary tale for people to take note of. Either way God would be exalted. And whether that came as a result of Israel being blessed or cursed was up to Israel to decide. God also made it clear that He would only make the temple His dwelling place on earth if His people maintained the proper relationship with Him. Otherwise, the temple would cease to stand and would no longer be a sanctuary for His people. It is still up to God’s people to decide whether He will be exalted and they will be blessed by Him or whether they will be disobedient, worship other gods and become a “byword” that will shock and horrify all those who see what they have become. See I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life…
None of us likes being let down in our relationships with others. Whether it’s a contractual relationship with someone doing work on our house, or a covenant relationship with someone we love. When we receive God’s grace, forgiveness and salvation, we do so by surrendering our lives to Him and entering covenant relationship with Him. We become a temple that the Holy Spirit can dwell inside of. But when we refuse to allow God’s Spirit to lead, and we subjugate our relationship with God to other gods, we cause our Father pain. We damage our relationship with Him and open ourselves up to experience the appalling consequences that God described to Solomon. Fortunately God said that when we fall, we don’t have to stay in that condition. We have the ability to restore our relationship with Him, if we humbly pray to Him, diligently seek Him and turn away from our sins by coming back to Him. God has given us a way back to Him if we will take it . And it makes all the difference for us… because it’s the “if” that leads us back to life!
Blessings,
Rev. Glenn
See I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life… ~Deuteronomy 30:19
