“And he said to me, “Son of Man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel are committing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary?…” Ezekiel 8:6
This is a post inspired by this article from Pew Research Center: Global Christianity – A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Christian Population
If your life never spanned beyond a day, would you know the sun sets?
If a shadow never moved, would you recognize the dimming of radiance?
If Fall never yielded to Winter, could you comprehend a sweltering sun?
How can you miss what you’ve never known?
Did any Priests see it go? Did any holy man know?
Did the sacrifices seem different? Did the smoke feel distant?
Did worshipers sense an absence? Did any prayers miss His presence?
Did anyone notice God’s glory go? Did anyone see a covenant’s closing show?
“Then the glory of the Lord went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim.” Ezekiel 10:18
What did the next generation think? What did they accept as normal, natural or spiritually chic? They would never know a temple filled with the Holy One’s blinding brightness; an inner chamber clouded with a living God’s danger. How could they know it had become a show?
They were confined to their own time. Their experience in traditions ways. Yet, God’s plan spans every generations day.
How can you miss what you’ve never known?
Has Western Civilization’s time come? Are we too living in age where “spiritual” is more of the theatrical? Has anyone noticed God’s glory go?
I don’t know how the Spirit flows. I don’t know from whence He comes or where He goes. I don’t know if this time is a Spiritual high or low.
Was the early Church the pinnacle?
How am I supposed to know?
Was the Great Awakening better?
If it is true, should I be bitter?
Are today’s abominations more than times long ago?
There is no one left who really knows.
What happened to the faithful in Ezekiel’s day? Those who sighed over admonition’s sway? When God’s glory left, did they still obey?
“And the Lord said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” Ezekiel 9:4
What if the glory of God has lifted once again? Am I of a time filled with mere traditional feign? Has He gone forth from the north; preferring the austere of the other hemisphere?
Am I hanging onto an echo from another day?
How can I know what is beyond show?
I’m confined to my own time. My experience bound in traditions ways. Yet, God’s plan spans even my generation’s day.
I’m prone to compare the temperature of my soul; gauging my fire on a consensus poll. I have my traditional ways but from what era? It is hard to say.
It may not matter. Who am I to say to the Potter, “I should be the primary vessel of the day”.
What I do know, is that the Spirit comes and goes.
He resides within me; marking me for eternity. I am called to follow but not to know. I don’t know if this time is a Spiritual high or low.
All I know is I want more.
So, I will continue to sign and groan over abominations secret and known.
I will continue to pray as a social dissenter from a place no longer at the epicenter.
I will continue to give my life, heart, and soul, to the One whose glory overflows.
“And the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the Lord.” Ezekiel 10:4
PRAYER: Lord, I read the news about all the abominations celebrated and normalized. I watch friends and family accept ways contrary to your world with an indifference to what you have called sin. Father, I sigh and groan as someone who is not home. Keep me uncomfortable with this world. Conform me to your will. Transform me into a slave of righteousness. Help me to understand my time. Lord, do not harden this generation. Do not leave my society in its works of flesh. Father, send your Spirit to move mightily in this time; revive us Lord. Draw this rebellious generation to salvation. I pray this in the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen
A DEVOTED LIFE 