Day 22-28 2 Samuel-1 Kings-2 Kings

My blog is waaaay behind, but my reading is all caught up.

Here is a quick summary of what has happened in the history of Israel:

-David good king for the most part
-Solomon starts out very well, but then is "dragged away and enticed" by women and power
-Solomon's sons (Jeroboam and Rehoboam) can't get along and start a civil war and the nation splits
-Israel and Judah have a bunch of kings (most are ungodly)
-Israel is defeated by the Assyrians
-Judah is finally defeated a long time later in 2 Kings 25

I think my favorite part of the reading was Elijah and the prophets of Baal. This story has always been one of my favorites.

I think it is partly the "pyro" in me and also Elijah's sarcastic attitude. It makes for a great story.

If there was one story I could teach in Sunday School every week, it would be Elijah. His whole point is "You need to CHOOSE!!!"

I love what he says in 1 Kings 18:21... Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him."

He says stop being so politically correct. Stop being so wishy-washy. Stop saying one thing and doing another. Stop playing the convenience game. Pick one or the other. You cannot have both.

You can either choose to serve Yahweh or Baal. You cannot have both. This is either/or... not both/and.

As I look at my own life, at times I am wishy-washy. I say that I am sold-out for God, but is that what my life shows?

Elijah is saying to me... Brent, you need to decide. If Jesus is God, live your life for Him. If you are God, stop wasting your time pretending.

And I know the answer in my head. I know that Jesus is God and I am not. I know this. On the test, I could get the answer right. I can fill in the right blank.

BUT... the only test that matters is my life. How am I doing on that test? After my sermon yesterday, Keyla proposed a question to me. And to be honest it caught me off guard.

She asked "so Brent, what are you going to do?"

And with that question, she exposed my weakness. What am I going to do? How am I any different now then I was yesterday before I preached? How I am any closer to God today than I was yesterday?

You see... I think as Christians we view God on the "MACRO" scale. We think about the big things. We say "yes, I give God my life."

For me, I have seen this. I moved from everything I knew as comfort for God. I have given up entire seasons of my life to serve God. I have given up the ability to make comfortable money for my entire life.

I have given up BIG things for God. And I think that most Christians view sacrifice on this BIG scale. Because for the most part, that is what we have heard preached from the pulpit since the time we were born.

In fact, that is basically what I preached yesterday. Give up EVERYTHING.

BUT... life is lived on the "MICRO" scale. Life is lived in the details. Our relationships are formed on the little things.

Marriages don't work that are based solely on vacations and honeymoons and big experiences. Marriages work in the day to day love that the couple shares.

But we view God differently. We know that God loves us unconditionally, so He has to love us. He doesn't have a choice. God is love.

So... how does this play out? We "love" God once or twice a week. And the rest of the time, we pretty much ignore Him. We know He is there, and if we are in trouble we expect Him to fix our problems.

If you want to know how it feels to God to have one hour a week from you, ask your spouse to ignore you all week except for one hour. They aren't allowed to talk to you. They know you are there, but they can't communicate with you.

How long do you think that the marriage will last on 1 hour a week? Probably not long.

Because life is lived in the day-to-day/moment-to-moment living. Life isn't just big events. When was the last big event in your life?

For me, it was preaching yesterday (twice). But guess what... It's been 24 hours and I've been alive the whole time.

Before preaching, the last big event was my trip to Texas on August 13-16. If nothing BIG happened in those 29 days, does that mean that I wasn't alive? No.

So, life is day-to-day/moment-to-moment. My relationship with God MUST also be day-to-day/moment-to-moment.

So, what am I going to do? Still a good question. Still don't have a great answer.

All I know is that, today I am going to grow my relationship with God. I am going to spend time in His Word. I am going to tell Him about my life. I am going to work at my job for Him. I am going love my wife the way that He commanded me to. I am going to drive my car for His glory.

I am going to live my life in such a way that every little thing I do gives God glory. And if everyday I do that, someday I will look back and see how much I have changed and how much closer to God I am then, than I am today.

So... I choose Jesus is God. Now the real test...