How Sad

Daily Reading: Ezekiel 31

Whom are you like in your greatness? (Ezekiel 31.2)

Devotional Thought: I was driving along the back roads of South Carolina, and I passed grand old houses decaying on their foundations.  "How sad," I thought.  "That used to be someone's home."

We will find this same thing almost everywhere if we look closely.  Houses - once glorious - now rot away.  Farms - once productive - lie fallow.  Businesses - once booming - are shuttered in silence.  We see something similar in sports franchises, restaurant chains, and even churches: Champions become chumps, foods are forgotten, and attendance atrophies.

Some of this is due to the natural aging process, but some of it, as we see in Ezekiel 31, happens because success has been taken for granted.  Egypt thought, "Who is like us in our greatness?"  They neglected to learn anything from nearby Assyria: "Foreigners, the most ruthless of nations, have cut it down... its branches have fallen, and its boughs have been broken off" (v. 12).

History's path is littered with broken remnants of kings and kingdoms - grand and glorious.  Yet, in all their greatness, they have succumbed to the march of time and the decay of presumption.

It doesn't have to be that way for the child of God.  The Holy Spirit will keep us fresh and vibrant as we make ourselves available to him.  In the words of Paul to the church in Thessalonica: "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances... Do not quench the Spirit.  Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.  Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. (1 Thessalonians 5.16-24).

Prayer: Lord, I want to be like the wise man who built his house upon the rock.  But I also want to keep that house in good repair.  Grant me strength and wisdom that I might maintain my spiritual fervor.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 45.1-7

1 My heart overflows with a pleasing theme; I address my verses to the king; my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.

2 You are the most handsome of the sons of men; grace is poured upon your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever.

3 Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one, in your splendor and majesty!

4 In your majesty ride out victoriously for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness; let your right hand teach you awesome deeds!

5 Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; the peoples fall under you.

6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;

7 you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;