Lead me to the cross

I heard the same message twice in four days. The message was that Christians need to hear the gospel even more often than non-Christians. Why? Because we forget. When we forget the message we stop living as if we believe it.

I have been reading through the old testament for a long time and I have stalled out because it has gotten depressing. No, I'm not in Lamentations. I can handle Lamentations. I'm in 2 Kings, where Israel can barely hold on to a wretched king long enough for him to introduce the latest idolatrous fad before one of his generals or officials bumps him off and becomes the next wicked tyrant. All of this started when Israel rebelled against the king God had given them and rebelled directly against God's authority as well. They decided to keep worshiping God, but to do it their way. They forgot the covenant God had given them. They wanted to reject parts of it and ended up abandoning all of it. The consequences piled up and multiplied throughout the generations, with ever uglier results.

Meanwhile Judah had ups and downs but generally stuck closer to God. Then, all the sudden, after 4 good kings in a row, a king appeared in Judah who tossed out all of the wisdom of 4 generations and instead embraced everything that was going on in Israel. He instituted idol worship. He removed God's alter from the temple and replaced it with a pagan alter. He sacrificed his own children in the fire. Disgusting. Completely disgusting. And only one generation after the people were worshiping God.

This is the power of forgetfulness. Whether it happens because of overbusiness, laziness, or deliberate neglect, forgetting our relationship with God is dangerous and seriousness business. Our fall into slavery to the sinful nature might be slow or it might be shockingly fast, but it will happen. I may not sacrifice children on the fire, but I might roast my needy neighbor in self-righteous reproach. I might not worship a golden idol, but who am I turning to when I am lonely? Afraid? Looking for purpose? If it isn't God, I'm following the path if Israel. Just because we have had a good Sunday doesn't mean we can coast through the week on the spiritual after-glow. We need to encounter God each day. We need to talk to Him each day and sit still long enough to hear a response.

For me, these are some realities that I want to be actively aware of each day:

1. Who God is
2. What Jesus did on the cross
3. My lostness and insufficiency apart from God
4. Who I am in relationship to God (at least one major aspect thereof)

It is also very important to frequently remind myself:

1. What God has done in history
2. What God has done in my life

God set up lots of opportunities throughout the month and throughout the year for the Jews to review their history and praise God for all He had done. It is not for no reason that he told them to make sure that their children where aware of everything God had done. We must seek always to raise up the next generation in an active knowledge of the living God. We can not make anyone believe, but it is crucial that we model a life of faith grounded in the evidence of God's past works.