The Glory has departed

What would be the worst thing that could happen to you, your family, or your country? I know a lot of people think that death is the worst thing that happens to us, as individuals, but that is not true. When people think of their family, they might think being homeless is the worst thing that could happen, but again that is not correct, either. There are many people who say the worst thing that could happen to America is for us to have another great depression. That is not true, at all. In fact, that could help us. The worst thing that can ever happen is for the glory of the Lord to depart from us. That happened to Israel, when the ark of God was captured by the Philistines and taken to their country. (I Samuel 4:21) When Eli heard the news he died. His two sons had died in the battle, and his daughter-in-law was giving birth to a son. She died in childbirth, but she named the son, Ichabod, because "The glory had departed" from Israel that day. That was the culmination of their sinful condition. We need to take time to learn from this, so it won't happen to us.

The glory of God is His presence. When God decides to leave us, we are totally on our own. He will not be there to help us at all. This happened to Israel a few times in their history. It can happen to any of us, our families, or our country at any time. It is not losing our salvation, but it is being alienated from God because of our sins. God knows the only way to get our attention is to say, "OK, do it your way a while and see how that goes for you." Then, when we finally get sick and tired of life without Him, He is counting on us confessing our sins, repenting from them, and turning fully to Him. When we do that, He is right there for us, but until then, we will be miserable. Let's decide now to be fully committed to the Lord, so this will not happen to us. Let's pray that it doesn't happen to America, either. I never want God to write "Ichabod" across our country because we have so abandoned Him and His Word.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read I Samuel 6-8.