Reality Check
There is nothing like standing in the presence of Almighty God to give us a reality check. That is exactly what happened to Elijah when he went to the Temple in the year his friend and the ruler of Israel, king Uzziah died.(Isaiah 6:2-3) He was probably concerned for the country, but he thought he was doing OK. He found out differently when he saw the angels, Seraphim, and when He heard them proclaim, "Holy, Holy Holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory." Suddenly Elijah knew he was sinful, and he lived in a very sinful country. The sin was the problem, not the ruler.
Perhaps, we are like Elijah in that we are concerned about our country, the economy, and the wars around the world. If we will stop to see that God is holy, completely holy, and He is the holiest Person in the universe, so that compared to Him, we are very sinful, we will see the reality that we need to be cleansed of our sin. That is where we need to start. The tendency of most of us is to compare ourselves to other people. Then, we have a distorted view of reality, because we live in the midst of an unclean, sinful people. Compared to them, we might be OK, but compared to God, we are not. That is reality. We need to stop concentrating on the country and others, and we need to get right with the Lord. Then, we can begin to be more holy, even though we will never reach the holiness of the Lord of hosts.
Jesus died, so our sins could be forgiven. Has He cleansed you? Then, we are commanded to confess our sins, so He can cleanse us, even after we are forgiven by Christ.(I John 1:9) Is that your common practice? God is holy, and we are to be holy. However, to be holy, we have to see reality clearly and not fool ourselves into thinking we are OK when we are not.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Isaiah 7-9.
Perhaps, we are like Elijah in that we are concerned about our country, the economy, and the wars around the world. If we will stop to see that God is holy, completely holy, and He is the holiest Person in the universe, so that compared to Him, we are very sinful, we will see the reality that we need to be cleansed of our sin. That is where we need to start. The tendency of most of us is to compare ourselves to other people. Then, we have a distorted view of reality, because we live in the midst of an unclean, sinful people. Compared to them, we might be OK, but compared to God, we are not. That is reality. We need to stop concentrating on the country and others, and we need to get right with the Lord. Then, we can begin to be more holy, even though we will never reach the holiness of the Lord of hosts.
Jesus died, so our sins could be forgiven. Has He cleansed you? Then, we are commanded to confess our sins, so He can cleanse us, even after we are forgiven by Christ.(I John 1:9) Is that your common practice? God is holy, and we are to be holy. However, to be holy, we have to see reality clearly and not fool ourselves into thinking we are OK when we are not.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Isaiah 7-9.