what they ought to be. The cham pion of Israel had become a clown to the Philistines. What a tragic finale to such a promising life. He had presumed on the goodness of God while continually living in dis obedience. Perhaps the most serious aspect of being out of touch with the Lord is the fact that not one of us lives unto himself. We all make an im pact on others. As an example our own children see us as we really are. They know whether Christian ity is vitally real with us or if we are just going through all the mo tions. The end result will be inev itable. Living away from the Lord is bound to mean inevitable heart break and remorse. There is a startling verse in Num bers 19:22, "And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean." Out of fellowship with God we cannot help but influence other people in a negative, non spiritual manner. These are days when we should be examining our motives and goals constantly, al ways with the prayer of heart, "Not my will, Lord, but Thine be done!" In the study of Paul's epistle to the Philippians we are constantly confronted with his desire for spir itual growth and maturity that he might become more like the sta ture of our wonderful Lord. He has suggested that there are things we need to forget and certain goals for which we should strive (Phil ippians 3:13-14). Many times we fail to find satisfaction simply be cause we are not following such a practical pattern for life. Paul deals with "the upward calling of God in the Lord Jesus Christ." This certainly involves per severance, discipline, and absolute Page 53
He failed to do so, keeping the best for himself and blaming the people for his wickedness. Samuel came with judgment of the Lord, asking, "What meaneth the bleat ing of the sheep?" I wonder, does Cod's ear detect the bleating of some unconfessed sin in our lives? Is there some unforgiven injury, unpaid debt, or unrestored prop erty? The problem is that we may have grown so used to the "bleat ing" that we hardly notice the fail ure of disobedience anymore. As a result we find a calamitous condition befalling Israel's first king, "When Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets" (I Samuel 28:6). He had lost his spiritual power. In the final analysis he died at the hand of an Amalekite whom he had spared. What irony the trage dy of spared sin! Paul was anxious that his own life should not be a castaway, he did not want to be put on a spiritual shelf losing his touch with the power of the living God (Philippians 3:10-12). Samson lost touch with God be cause he presumed too much. His life had been ripe with promise. On him the Spirit had descended. Through His power, Samson had achieved mighty exploits against Israel's enemies. His strength was not in his gigantic stature and bulging muscles, but rather in the Lord. Once that power was with drawn, contact with God being broken, he was as weak as any other man. How unfortunate was his presumption in trifling with the secret of his own strength. Repeat edly he broke his consecration vows. We should be concerned today that our hearts may not be
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs