Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Devotional 300310

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Praise God for the refreshing rains. We need His cleansing and nourishment through those rains. Yes, it may cause inconvenience. But we cannot live without rain either. How foolish and short-sighted we are to seek convenience and quick fix in life, but forsake our life necessity for healthy growth. We really need to re-focus and revive our priority daily.

Imagine a human head with no ears as though it was just a blockhead. Eyes, nose, and mouth, but no ears. Where ears are usually found there is only a smooth, impenetrable surface, granitic bone. God speaks. No response. The metaphor occurs in the context of a bustling religious activity deaf to the voice of God: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced; burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require” (Ps. 40:6). How did these people know about these offerings and how to make them? They had read the prescriptions in Exodus and Leviticus and followed instructions. They had become religious. Their eyes read the words on the Torah page and rituals were formed. They had read the Scripture words accurately and gotten the ritual right. How did it happen that they had missed the message “not required”?

There must something more involved than following directions for unblemished animals, a stone altar, and a sacrificial fire. There is: God is speaking and must be listened to. But what good is a speaking God without listening human ears? So God gets a pick and shovel and digs through the cranial granite, opening a passage that will give access to the interior depths, into the mind and heart. Or – maybe we are not to imagine a smooth area of skull but something like wells that have been stopped up with refuse: culture noise, throw-away gossip, and garbage chatter. Our ears are so clogged that we cannot hear God speak. Like the way Isaac dug again the wells that the Philistines had filled, God re-digs the ears of His people that trashed with audio junk.

You are what you hear, see and eat. In another word, what you choose to hear, see and eat represents your desire or value preference. No one can force you hear what you don’t like to hear. Even if you are forced to sit through a lecture or sermon, your ear can easily tune off the sound that come through your ear. If you don’t know your relationship with God, you may measure by the “things” you desire to hear. How much do you desire to hear the words of God and do accordingly? If you don’t want to follow, then you don’t want to hear. If you don’t want to follow you don’t want to see the guidance of God. Have mercy on us O Lord! We tends to question the presence of God when we go through suffering. But we seldom question our relationship with God when we enjoy His blessings. Before you ask “where are you God?” you need to ask, “where am I in relationship with God?”

We live in an informational age. We are being bombarded by all kinds of information wherever we go or whenever we turn on our device (iphone, TV, computer). Our ears are trashed with a lot of audio and visual junk. It usually takes me a few minutes each day to delete those junk mail or message that trashed my mailbox. We properly need to do the same to delete a lot of junk message that trash our mind and soul by quiet before Him. Ask the Lord to help you delete those worldly junks from your mind, and make sure you clean your recycle bean as well.

Love you according to His word,
Lawrence

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34)

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