Ravi Zacharias tells the story of a wealthy man traveling to another city carrying a bag of precious gems. A thief heard about it and decided to follow the man and relieve him of his treasure along the way. As night fell they stopped at a hostel. The thief made sure to be in the same room. The rich man told him to use the bathroom and get ready for the night and then he would take his turn. When the thief left the man hid his bag of jewels under the mattress of the thief. Then he left and went to the bathroom. While he was gone the thief quietly but meticulously searched all the man’s possessions for the bag of gems as well as under his pillow, mattress and bed. Mystified as to where they were he went to sleep. The next morning before resuming their journey the rich man turned to the thief and said; “I know what you were after…the treasure was nearer than you thought.”
The take-away of the story is do not overlook the value of those “treasures” closest to us; family members, close friends, church family, etc; those who love us and pray for us and minister to us in the difficult times and are happy for us in the good times. Over time we tend to take the people that are there for us for-granted. A story like this
causes us to pause and think. (Familiarity does not always breed contempt…maybe just ingratitude?)
But there is Someone who is taken for-granted more than anyone else by those of us who have been born again and that is the one who chose to love and redeem us…our Heavenly Father. Think about it. That God’s children love Him is not the question, but many children who love their parents take them for granted and pay little heed to their advice or opinions. Consider our heavenly Father and the lengths to which He has gone so we can know Him personally through the work of His Holy Spirit and His Words to us. We carry His Words to church with us, listen to the Pastor expound them, have them on our phones and computers, listen to them on the radio, sing them, quote them, go to Bible studies of all kinds to discuss them. Many Christians start their day with a verse or by reading a devotional, but that does not necessarily translate into obedience, reverence and respect for God. We assume it does because we say so and believe it to be true, but over time we may simply take Him and His Word for granted and our walk with Him becomes a dutiful not loving routine.
Slowly it becomes easier as we go through our day for our human nature to push our spiritual nature aside. We don’t pay attention to what the Bible says, misinterpret it, relegate it to a time that we say has no relevance to today and slowly lose respect for the value of its truth and instruction that pertains to every single issue we face in life. We say with David; “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” but it isn’t…not in practice. Our familiarity has fostered an unseen contempt for God and how He wants us to live. Does that sound harsh? Some synonyms for “contempt” are disdain, disregard, low opinion, disrespect. If we are honest and meditate on it we are doubtless all guilty of not giving God His due in just the small decisions at least. (Think about how large a part of our life are the “small decisions.”) Do we not show disrespect when we only turn to God and ask for help and wisdom in times of trouble when we can see we have no control in the matter?
One of the most striking parallels to our day is recorded for us in the book of Malachi. God sent this prophet as His last voice of reason (repent and return) to the Jewish nation before going silent for 400yrs. where they would not hear from Him again until John the Baptist came on the scene preparing the way for their Messiah. Ezra and Nehemiah were both godly and strong leaders but had passed from the scene, and without a firm leader (Nehemiah) and a diligent priest (Ezra) to oversee their worship the priests became complacent and self-serving. They did not take God seriously and consequently their temple service for Him became duty. Baxter called it sloppy worship. It comes from their ingratitude. The people saw the corrupted priests show partiality and disdain God’s law by ignoring it or misinterpreting it to serve their own interests. God (through His prophet) pointed out their contempt for Him in all these ways but their response was to question God, even His love for them.
It is worth reading this small Old Testament book and look back to when our own walk with God was fresh every day, worship was not a duty and we wanted to know how to apply God’s Word to our life. Compare it to life now. Is there spiritual complacency or sloppiness in our service and worship? Do we love God and trust Him with the fervor we had as new believers? Do we need to repent and return to our first love as some of the Jewish people back then did? Most of the nation ignored God’s words but there was a remnant who took them seriously.
“Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another and the Lord listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name.”
Mal. 3:16