“Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and
do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy
candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.”
(Re 2:5 AV)
I
have noticed an alarming trend of those who know the LORD and seek to be successful
in the walk with God. There is a trend
that business and faithfulness to the truth is more important that maintaining
one’s personal daily walk with God. I
have been repeatedly asked over the thirty plus years of my ministry to help
others who are struggling in the life.
Almost to a tea, they share one common problem. They have failed in their daily devotional
time with God. The church at Ephesus was
a stalwart of truth. They examined
everything and everyone. They cleansed
from their sphere of influence all false apostles and all error they brought
with them. From a doctrinal point of
view, you could not find a purer church.
However, they has a serious deficiency.
They had allowed their personal walk with God to go neglected. From God’s point of view, it was a step
down. No matter how much doctrine they
knew and how well they could defend it, if they didn’t walk with God, it was of
little value. And, it was serious enough
for the LORD to warn of their pending removal from His presence.
I
thank God for the churches and men of God who stressed a personal devotional
walk with God. A time set apart every
day for Bible reading as opposed to Bible study. A time set apart which all other cares are
blocked out and the voice of God has our fullest attention. A time when we confess our faults to a
gracious God and pour our hearts out to Him.
A time when there are no interruptions.
A time when the dog has to lay down somewhere. A time when the kids are fending for
themselves. A time when our spouse is
busy about her or his tasks for the day.
A quiet place where the Spirit of God does not have to compete with
other distractions. No phone. No email. No outside stimuli. One of the rules of the office in my first
church of which I was a staff member was the secretarial staff was instructed
that no phone calls or interruptions were allowed for any staff member before ten
o’clock. The pastor made it a point to
strongly encourage his staff to be in their respective offices as early as
possible and he would guarantee the privacy needed for their devotional
time. Very smart!
When
the wonderful sheep God has graced me with come to me with issues, the first
thing I will inquire of is their salvation.
The second is the habits of devotional time. It is almost a given that if they are
struggling, it will all boil down to how much time they spend with God each
day. I am selfish this way. I have learned it is the most valuable practice
I can do. I have to. For my own health and for the health of those
who depend on me. Don’t interrupt the
LORD! He is speaking to me. You’ll have to call later. If not, I am taking a step backward no matter
how much Bible I may know.
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