Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Psalm 145:18 The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
AVOIDING GOD?
I really need to clean my garage. It's been months since I last disposed of old boxes and paint cans, swept out all the corners, and reorganized tools and other odds and ends. But...I just haven't had time. There is gardening to do, places to go, family to visit. In other words, I'm avoiding the garage. We somehow find time for what is important to us, and on the other hand, can always invent an excuse for avoiding what we don't want to do.
What are you avoiding? When was your last dentist appointment or physical? Have you been putting off a difficult conversation with someone? Avoiding someone or something is never helpful. It usually only makes matters worse. That is especially true with avoiding God. Someone's conscience warns them that things are not right between them and God, but they dread what they might hear, and so they put Him off and reason that they are just too busy or that this just isn't a good time, and that they will think about it later.
How often do we avoid God? He invites us to come to Him in His Word. Yet the excuses we make for not reading or hearing Him could fill a book. We know we fall short in our walk with Him, yet instead of immediately going to Him in repentance, how often don't we try to rationalize why it was not really that bad or how in this situation there was nothing else we could have done?
Thank the Lord that He is not like that. He didn't put off dealing with our sin and its curse of eternal death. From eternity He planned our salvation. He didn't dawdle on His way to the cross and avoid bearing the burden of our guilt, as terrible as it was. When Peter tried to dissuade Him from His path, Jesus said, "Get behind Me, Satan." We read in Hebrews: "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus ... who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of God" (Hebrews 12:2).
Jesus doesn't look at our failures, weaknesses, problems, and ingratitude and avoid spending time with us. He continually comes in the Word to assure us: "Surely I am with you always ... Call upon Me in the day of trouble ... I will never leave you nor forsake you."
We might avoid many things, but avoid the Lord of love and forgiving mercy? Why?
