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The Casual Mistake
From My Blog Archives: Scared Straight
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July 1, 2008
Dear Friends:julie2
 
This issue of the Dogwood Digest delves into an uncomfortable subject: taking God too casually.Too often we treat Him like a good luck charm or a genie in a bottle, who exists to bring us the good things in life. While all good things do come from Him, we have gotten things backwards. It is a grave mistake.
 
Please use the link at the very bottom of this email and forward it on to a friend who could use some encouragement! Thanks!
 
Love, Julie
The Casual Mistake
When my son Daniel was in third grade, his greatest dream was to become an NFL star. He lived and ark of the covenantbreathed football. Our neighborhood had an active Boys and Girls Club which included a midget football league.  We signed Daniel up. Until then our only other experience with organized sports had been when our kids participated in T-Ball. Practices were typically an hour long a couple of times a week, with games scheduled once a week or so. It was a fun, relaxed time sitting in the stands, cheering our kids on as they swung at the ball resting on the T and ran the bases. We parents made friendly conversation while laughingly shaking our heads at our children twirling around in the outfield instead of concentrating on the game. It was all great fun.
 
Expecting a similar experience, Steve took Daniel to the first football practice.  He came home with concern in his eyes. "Practice is two hours long all five weeknights," he reported, "as well as all morning on Saturdays.  These people are serious!"
 
We entered the world of midget football with unrealistic expectations. We thought it would be another casual, fun, t-ball-like experience. Instead, those involved with football were hardcore. They meant business.
 
God's people were often guilty of similarly unrealistic expectations concerning Him. While at war with the Philistines, the Israelites lost 4,000 men in battle (1 Samuel 4). Recognizing their defeat as from the Lord, the people decided they would bring the Ark of the Covenant into battle with them the next day. They did not pray and ask the Lord to be with them. Instead, they carried the ark into the camp as a sort of superstitious good luck charm. Unsurprisingly, God did not honor their actions. The Israelites were soundly defeated that next day as well. The ark was captured and brought into Philistine territory as a part of the booty and placed beside their god Dagon in the temple.
 
Yet God would not allow this symbol of His presence to be treated casually. The next morning, the Philistines found the idol of Dagon lying on its face before the ark of the Lord. Shaking their heads in amazement, they set the idol aright. The following morning, the Philistines were frightened to find the idol once again lying on its face before the ark. This time the head and palms were cut off. Soon after, those living in the city broke out in hideous tumors. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the God of the ark was bringing judgment on their people. The people in that city wanted the ark gone, and fast.
 
The ark was consequently moved from Philistine city to city in quick succession, in each place causing residents more trouble. Finally the Philistines threw up their hands in defeat. They needed to get rid of the ark.  Rather than being a trophy of a great victory, it was nothing but trouble. What seemed to elude the Israelites was plain to the Philistines: God was to be taken seriously.
 
The ark was sent back to Israel accompanied by an offering of gold. The Israelites received it gladly. Yet while they sacrificed a cow right on the spot in honor of the occasion, the Israelites still did not comprehend the seriousness of the presence of the ark. First Samuel 6:19 tells us some Israelites actually dared to open the ark and look inside. The Lord struck down all who did so.  The people cried, "Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God?"
 
Twenty years later, a man named Uzzah was killed when he put his hand on the ark to steady it as the ark was moved to Jerusalem. God continued to send His unmistakable message: don't treat Me casually.
 
Since the death and resurrection of Christ, we have a new standing with our Holy God. Those who have trusted in Jesus for their salvation are told: "Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16, emphasis added). We can now go where before high priests could only go with fear and trembling. The blood of Christ has "sprinkled our hearts clean" (Hebrews 10:19). Our position and standing with God have been made sure.
 
But does that give us license to treat our powerful, holy God casually? Scripture does not indicate this at all. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us to "sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts." The original word for sanctify means to set apart, or treat as holy. The Corinthian church failed to do this. One of their own continued in fellowship while actively committing incest. Paul sternly instructed the Corinthians to put this man out of fellowship immediately. "I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus," he wrote (1 Corinthians 5:5). Paul also warned them that their casual treatment of the Lord's Supper was bringing judgment upon their numbers: "For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep" (1 Corinthians 11:30). Clearly the Corinthians were not taking God seriously. Their cavalier attitude had actually caused a number of them to die! 
 
While we can claim an intimate relationship with God, we must never lose sight of who He is. In the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Susan is rather startled to learn the King of Narnia is a lion. "Oooh!" said Susan. "Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion."
 
"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver. "Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good."
 
We cannot be casual about how we live in light of who God is. Our relationship with God is a serious matter, not a pleasant safety net to be used when times are hard. Am I taking each day He gives me as an opportunity to live for Him, or is God's involvement in my life more like a crutch to be used at my convenience? When I go to Him in prayer, am I seeking ways to know Him more, or am I just looking for how He can bless me? Does my relationship with Him revolve around me or is He at the center? Am I taking God too casually?
 
A tension exists between the awesome power of God and His love and grace. While we are invited to address Him as "Abba," at the same time we cannot forget His great might and holiness. Don't mistake His patience and grace for weakness or apathy. It is a grave mistake to treat God casually.  
From My Blog Archives
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Scared Straight dogwood
"He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness." Hebrews 12:10

Last week I had a scare. I woke up with an irregular heart beat. I mean really irregular. I was dizzy and nauseous and felt like my heart was beating out of my chest. After about 20 minutes, I woke up my daughter and asked her to take me to the emergency room. An EKG confirmed my heart was in atrial fibrillation. My heart was racing at 157 beats per minute. They put me on an IV drug to slow my heart down. The irregular rhythm persisted. I was admitted for an overnight stay.

When the cardiologist arrived, he went over my medical history. I asked him what would cause a heart to do what mine was doing. He said it could be stress or even sleep apnea. He gently said, "I don't want to hurt your feelings, but . . ." I knew what was coming. The weight pronouncement. I needed to lose. It was affecting my health. I'd heard it before, and believed it. But I hadn't ever been disciplined enough to follow through. I am a procrastinator. I was going to start dieting tomorrow. Always tomorrow.

But the cardiologist shocked me out of my complacency. He continued " . . . but you are morbidly obese." Morbidly?? Did he have to use such a horrifying adjective?? I was mortified. If I died of a heart attack, I had no one but myself to blame. My obituary would read: she ate herself to death.

Finally, around two in the morning, my heart kicked back into a normal sinus rhythm. They sent me home in the morning, armed with prescriptions and instructions. I started Weight Watchers point counting immediately. I started walking. It was time to get serious. Tomorrow was here.
 
I am scared straight. A precursor to a possible future heart-attack or stroke will hopefully be enough to motivate me to do what my doctor has nagged me about for years. My family is coming with me to walk every night after dinner. We are all determined to make this thing happen.

The writer of Hebrews was trying to scare his readers straight. They had received the good news of salvation and experienced new life in Christ. Now some of them were considering going back to the old Jewish system. They missed their old community. They missed the traditions. They were experiencing persecution from their families and the community at large. So the writer (we don't know who wrote the letter) spends a great deal of time demonstrating to them the superiority of Christ over anything else they have known. By the time he gets to chapter 10, he has laid out all the information they need. Now it's time for the motivation.

"For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries . . . it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God." (Hebrews 10: 26, 31) He was trying to scare them straight.

Was their salvation in jeopardy? No. They had been bought with the blood of Christ, declared innocent of their sin. They had been adopted into the family of God and had a secure future inheritance waiting for them. The Holy Spirit permanently indwelled them as a seal, or guarantee, of their eternal life. So what was the writer talking about?

God will not sit idly by and watch us self-destruct. We are His. He paid dearly for us. And He is faithful. So He does what it takes to bring us back into the fold. The measures can be severe. Paul tells us that some Corinthians were sick and some had actually died because of their sin (1 Corinthians 11:30). Our life here on earth can become a living hell, should we turn away from the God who saved us.

Our salvation remains unaffected. But He will get our attention, one way or another.

Hopefully we will never come to that point of wondering whether following Christ is worth the cost. But should we decide that we want our own way and begin to live for ourselves, the cost will be higher. "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." (Proverbs 16:25) Grave consequences may follow our actions should we choose to abandon the God who loves us.

We don't like to think of this side of God. We like the part of His loving kindness and compassion. But He is more than a genie in a bottle to us. And He will take care of His own. If you ever think about abandoning the faith, be sure to read Hebrews 10. It will scare you straight.