March 7
Num 8:1-9:23 | PS 50:1-23 | Prov 10:29-30 | Mark 13:14-37
We live in an impatient world that desires immediate answers. Most would never admit that they have allowed their little handheld devices to become their god. If you don't feel well, rather than pray or seek God, one simply does a search on their phone and whether accurate or not they have been satisfied. If one is bored rather than read their Bible, pray to God, worship God in song, they scroll and fill their time and their minds. If you seek advice on anything from weather to politics to life's most elusive questions, it is not a matter of sitting quietly and reflecting in God's presence, again it is a matter of getting these questions answered on our phones. Whatever the situation has been, has been ramped to the next level with the push of AI. So, if one wonders why so few follow God, why those who claim to follow Him have such an anemic walk, it is because they have substituted their relationship with God with a relationship with their god the phone. This might seem overly simplified, but it isn't really. We have been prepared for this transition by willingly replacing God and effectively eliminating Him from schools, universities, public discourse, corporations, etc. So, this is really a culmination, which has now reached this level. This spell must be broken.
Now it's true that Moses did not have a cell phone but notice that when Moses was posed with a situation that he did not have an answer for he did not wing it and give the best advice he could conjure up. He also did not call for a committee to come up with a majority opinion. When the first Passover in the wilderness was celebrated, we read of the situation that was placed before him in Numbers 9:6-7, "But some of the men had been ceremonially defiled by touching a dead body, so they could not celebrate the Passover that day. They came to Moses and Aaron that day and said, “We have become ceremonially unclean by touching a dead body. But why should we be prevented from presenting the Lord’s offering at the proper time with the rest of the Israelites?” We see Moses’ response in 9:8, "Moses answered, “Wait here until I have received instructions for you from the Lord.” From when David was anointed by Samuel to become king to him actually becoming king was a period of fifteen years. During much of that time he was hunted fiercely by King Saul. We see David, a man after God's own heart, pouring out to God in the psalms. This is relationship. When Daniel sought God as a result of a message that he received he waited upon the Lord for twenty-one days in Daniel 10, praying, fasting in anticipation of a response. Moses and the people were learning to seek God for every facet of their lives as we read in Numbers 9:17, 23, " Whenever the cloud lifted from over the sacred tent, the people of Israel would break camp and follow it. And wherever the cloud settled, the people of Israel would set up camp...So they camped or traveled at the Lord’s command, and they did whatever the Lord told them through Moses."
This relationship and learning to wait upon God is imperative. God's timetable is marching forward, though we do not know the time or the hour. This calls for our waiting expectantly on the Lord. We read in Mark 13:14, "“So when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not” (let the reader understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains." This will call for swift action. If one stalls it will likely mean their demise. As Jesus continues on His discourse, we read in 13:33, "Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is." Our life is a training ground. Events will occur, but will we be prepared? Will we be so in tune with God that our eyes are focused, our hearts are prepared, and we move forward without hesitation. Or will we fact check things on our phone, ask AI, seek somewhere else for clarification. We must decide if God is indeed our God. If He is then it is time to get our focus on Him. We need daily time in His Word, time in prayer, time in fellowship, time in worship, etc. The more we focus on Him the less we will focus on all competing voices.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: