adrift
How do you keep your footing? Spiritually speaking? What is the anchor of your soul? How do you keep from being swept away by the latest spiritual trend, or even more likely, keep from gradually drifting away--something so prevalent in our culture.
The latest Pew study has some very sobering news. We, as Christians, are losing ground.
http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/
According to the Washington Post on Tuesday, Catholics seem to be the biggest losers. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/05/12/christianity-faces-sharp-decline-as-americans-are-becoming-even-less-affiliated-with-religion/
And read this: “There are more religiously unaffiliated Americans (23 percent) than Catholics (21 percent) and mainline Protestants (15 percent).”
Yipes! We are now out numbered here.
How did this happen? I believe firmly it is because we have not kept the FIRST things first.
”What are The First Things?” you may ask.
According to God...it is HIM!
God very clearly lists His TOP THREE things in Exodus 20:2-11 (you can read all ten- but we will only talk about the top three.)
1. HE is the Lord our God and He does not want us to have “strange gods” before Him.
What do I put before God? Love of self? Love of pleasure? Love of approval? Love of money? What strange god do I place before my love for Him? And how does that play out in my life?
I am sorry God, help me, for without Your help...I can do no better.
2. Nor does He want us to “take His name in vain.”
How many times do I misuse His name? Even casually? There is so much power in His Name--so much that the disciples simply spoke it and people were healed, and then they were arrested and forbidden to ever use the name of Jesus again because of those miracles. (Acts 4:18) Do I respect the name of God this much and teach my children to respect it too? Do I give reverence to His Holy Name and to Him?
I am sorry God, help me, for without Your help... I can do no better.
3. Then we are told to “remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy.”
What does that mean to me? It means that I have six days on which I can do whatever I need to get done, but on the seventh, God wants me all for Himself...to rest in Him, to love Him, to take pleasure in Him, to worship Him and remember Him. Why? Because HE needs it? NO! Because He knows I need it, and if I do not do this I will suffer. From Him comes the source of true life and happiness. I need to stay plugged in if I want this life to work. It seems we have drifted far from our ancient predecessors in the faith. A group of North African Christians were martyred during the reign of the Emperor Diocletian and before the execution one of them was asked why he had violated Diocletian's command and attended Sunday Mass. He replied "Sine Dominica Non Possumus." Loosely translated it means "We cannot live without the Lord's Day."
I am sorry God, help me, for without Your help... I can do no better.
What the Post reports is not a new problem...this drifting away. Two thousand years ago Jesus warned the Church in Ephesus [Revelation 2:2-5]:
“I know your works, your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot tolerate the wicked; you have tested those who call themselves apostles but are not, and discovered that they are impostors. Moreover, you have endurance and have suffered for my name, and you have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: you have lost the love you had at first. Realize how far you have fallen. Repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.”
How very sad.
First things first means to LOVE GOD.
How do we love God? By keeping His commandments. (John 14:15)
Pray that we will all love God, repent, and return to Him.
Abandon yourself totally to God and see what effect that has on you and on others.
We can change the trend.
But seek first the kingdom (of God) and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. Matthew 6:33
Dear Lord,
You state that it will do me no good to gain the whole world and then to lose my soul. Please give me the grace to keep loving and choosing You all the days of my life and to be diligent to teach my children this as well. It is so easy to get lazy. Help me to love You first and foremost and to keep myself securely anchored to You. I do not want to go adrift, for without You, I can do nothing.
I ask this in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
