In this wildly busy world it is easy to be caught up in the glitter and glamor of it all. If we do, we will find ourselves exactly that, caught, hung up and controlled by the very things we thought we had control over and were for our pleasure. Many people, places and things will vie for our minds attentions and hearts affections. With only so many days to our lives, where will we spend those precious allotted moments of focus?! We would be wise to put our hope, to set our hearts in God, who richly provides us with everything we need for our enjoyment (1 Timothy 6:17)!
Deuteronomy 4:9 (NIV) instructs us… Only be careful and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Well, how do we do that in such a loud and distracting world, you ask?! The answer is held in the very next two verses… teach to others what you know of God! How do you teach?! You remember His faithfulness and teach from your own relational experience of Him; teach what you know without worrying about what you don’t!
1 Corinthians 4:2 (NIV) Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (NIV) And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
God did not make a mistake that you are here in this moment of history, in your specific family, your sphere of influence. Teach/tell your children, your grandchildren, anyone in your circle of influence, of your relationship with Jesus. Recall His faithfulness to His Word in your life and share that today, don’t delay! Not one of us is guaranteed tomorrow. Deuteronomy 4:39 (NIV) Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on earth below. There is no other.
As the Isrealites recalled how the Lord had spoken to them in the past they remembered how He spoke from within fire but they saw no form. God knew if they saw an image with their physical eyes it would become a stumbling block. We would try to recreate the glitter and glamor of it all to have something tangible to capture our focus, only to find our worship misplaced! Deuteronomy 4:15-16a (NIV) You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape…
It’s easy to get caught up watching others and tangible things that only cause our hearts to wander from the One worthy of all our worship. Discouragement, pride or any number of other distractions begin to set in. We cannot navigate faith in feelings or by what we see in our surrounding circumstances but rather by what we believe is Truth through faith in His unfailing Word. We are warned to watch ourselves. Where is your focus today? In Jesus we have been entrusted with the Truth; will we prove faithful?
Redeeming Grace 99|1 Ministries 