Happy Ground Hog Day

Happy Ground Hog Day

"I will bless the Lord who ha given me counsel; my heart also instructs me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved." Psalm 16:7-8

I have been reading through the book of Exodus with you on our "Digging Deeper" adventure. It has been a good review for me of the story of redemption.

I came to the place in the story where God calls Moses up into the mountain to give him the Ten Commandments (not the Ten Suggestions), and to give him the detailed instructions for the building of the tabernacle, the duties of the priests, and the offerings. Moses has been gone for over a month, and the people are getting restless. You can hear them asking, "Where has the old boy gone?"

The people come to Aaron and want to make a "new" idol and old Aaron doesn't even suggest to them that this is wrong. He goes right along with the plan, makes the golden calf, and then calls for a day celebration.

The Lord tells Moses what has happened: "They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them." Exodus 32:8

The Israelites have witnessed some incredible miracles: the plagues and how God worked during their release from the captivity of the Egyptians; the parting of the Red Sea and how God made a way for them to pass through the sea without anyone perishing; and good old Aaron had the opportunity to go with Moses up on the mount to see the God of Israel (Exodus 24:10).

We might ask the question, how could they be so stupid? Wait a minute! Don't get Pharisaical on me. Have you not been there? It would be like watching a rerun of the movie "Ground Hog Day."

Think of ALL that the Lord has done for you and me. Some of us have witnessed miracles and displays of God's glory and power in our lives in amazing ways. And yet how QUICKLY we find ourselves stepping back into our old routines, falling back into our old sin patterns, making new idols of the heart.

The children of Israel and Aaron, forget one thing: The God of Israel knew exactly where they were and what they were doing. Nothing escaped His eyes. They forgot the "fear of the Lord": God knows, weighs and sees every one of my thoughts, deeds, words and actions.

Puritan preacher John Owen said: We cannot take one step in our walk with God unless we remember that always and in all places, He is present with us; that He knows ALL our thoughts and sees all that we do and that at all times, night and day. And as we ought always to live in the fear of God as the omnipresent and omniscient God, so there are special times when our minds ought specially to remember His omnipresence and omniscience.

Thousands of people will turn on the news, or go to western PA to find out if the groundhog will see his shadow. They will get the prediction and quickly go back to life as it has been. Instead of focusing in on whether we will have a longer or shorter winner, a victorious way to spend this Ground Hog Day would be to remember THAT NOTHING ESCAPES HIS EYES! Remembering that will help us be MORE THAN A CONQUEROR not just today, but for the rest of our lives. -- Bill Welte is President and CEO of America's KESWICK

DIGGING DEEPER: Proverbs 2; Exodus 29-30; Matthew 21:23-46

DIG THIS QUOTE: It is not enough to want to be a useful tool for God; you must be willing to sit still for the grinding that produces the edge. – Bruce Wilkinson