Imagine you have invited a group of family members to your home for a get together because you love them very much and you want to bless them. You know you have only a week to plan and prepare for your guests, so you work hard all week getting things ready. Your heart is thrilled as you think how happy your guests will be when they see and experience all you planned for them.
You say to yourself, "I’ll have to make a list. First I must clean the entire house from top to bottom. I will also need to buy a lot of extra food and treats (even though it will cut into our budget it will be worth the sacrifice). I will go into the garden and pluck some roses and other flowers to beautify the house and make it smell good. I want this visit to be so very special for everyone!"
And so, throughout the week, you go through what seems like a never-ending process, and you are sure you will never get done on time but you keep plugging away anyway because your love compels you to do so. The big day arrives! You get up much earlier than usual and begin the final preparations. You want your guests to arrive with the pleasant aroma of freshly cooked food coming from the kitchen and sweet music flowing through the house. Even the lawn outside has been mowed, garden weeded, driveway swept and hosed down and your car is in the garage to make more room for your guests to park. You feel as if you’ve overlooked nothing. Wow! Won’t everyone be surprised and happy?
Finally the first guests arrive. As usual, it’s your parents. You run to the door with a big smile, open it and stretch forth your hand to shake their hand to greet them, but something strange and totally unexpected happens. Your parents both ignore you and walk past you as if you didn’t exist. Worse yet, they shut off your music and turn on the television, plop down in chairs and begin to watch the television. Before you have time to react people begin to show up rapidly, and as each one enters your house they ignore you and move on into the house. Some join your parents watching the television. Others go into the kitchen and soon return with drinks and snacks. Some start talking about clothing they are wearing, some talk about sports, others about their jobs and cars until it get very noisy, but nobody seems to mind. Everyone is so caught up in their own conversation that they totally forget you are there. A couple of your relatives see what is happening but don’t want to cause trouble so they say nothing to the others.
Finally you ask your husband to call out to the others to get their attention to let them know the meal is ready to be served and they need to take their places. The meal begins and some of your guests finally begin to acknowledge you and your husband. Others continue to talk about everything and anything but in subdued tones so as not to disturb the others. Some seem to be wrapped up in their own thoughts and are physically present but mentally absent. The meal is splendid! Some only picked at the food, some gobbled it down greedily and others ate very heartily and then came and expressed their appreciation for all you did for them.
Finally all the guests left, but not before talking to everyone in the room but you. Later in the quiet you had mingled feelings of grief and joy. At least some of your guests appreciated all your hard work. Your heart is grieved, however for those who came for the feast and fellowship but took you and your husband for granted.
The parallel should be obvious! God has prepared a blessing for us every week. The blessing is good, and always necessary for us because God knows exactly what we need. His great love and Father’s heart rejoices in blessing us!
We enter His house and week after week many of us are oblivious to His presence. We are far too busy talking to one another about everything and anything. Finally someone announces from the platform that it is time for us to get to our seats and begin the service with prayer. How God’s heart must be heavy as He is ignored up to this point!
The feast begins! There is prayer, music and worship, and a sermon followed by more prayer and worship. While we are there some are talking in subdued tones and not paying attention and distracting others. Others are caught up in a myriad of thoughts totally disconnected from the service, and yet others are paying close attention and taking in all they can. These sometimes remain long after the final amen is said and seek the Lord for more of what He has prepared for them. Others rudely stand around and talk without regard to those who are praying or being prayed for. The rest either leave or gather somewhere else in the church and continue to talk about whatever interests them.
God’s heart is filled with mingled feelings! He greatly rejoices for those who are still seeking Him and are blessed and thankful for what He has prepared for them, but He also is grieved for those who went away empty and filled with their own ways.
How have we come to this? Hopefully this will cause us to seriously contemplate how we can reverse this horrible and spiritually devastating tragedy and bring revival to God’s people!
C R Lord 3/21/2011
THERE IS A COMMENT BOX BELOW. - I WOULD APPRECIATE YOUR CONSTRUCTIVE INPUT.
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