Because that is what keeps us humble before God beloved. He could not do another thing for me as long as I live and still He has done everything for me. Seeker friendly? Since when did salvation not become seeker friendly enough? The Bible says that God is working all things out for our good yet we act as if an answer of "no" from God is somehow a bad thing. We are raising up a generation of believers who in deed believe that is not Your will but mine be done. We fail to appreciate God. Consider God's recipe for peace:
Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4: 6-7 (NLT)
Prayer is not just a whine list. It is supposed to be where we acknowledge all God has done. Why? Because it protects us. It guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. What we may not want to admit is that when we lack peace we are really experiencing a lack of faith in who God is. Being thankful for all He has already done reminds us who He is! When David decided to face Goliath what was his rationale to King Saul?
But David persisted. "I have been taking care of my father's sheep and goats," he said. "When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. I have done this to both lions and bears, and I'll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!" Saul finally consented. "All right, go ahead," he said. "And may the Lord be with you!" - 1Samuel 17: 34-37 (NLT)
Sometimes we confuse ourselves too much in the faith. We think we need the faith of King David when all we really need is the faith of the shepherd David. It was King David that would eventually fall prey to sin's clutches with Bathsheba. Sometimes the higher up we go the harder it is to remember who brought us there. Lets us never forget to be thankful to God.
Lastly, we see the instruction that is so overlooked in modern Christendom. If we continue to sin we will be swept away. Sin is the unspoken doctrine in churches today. Entire new theologies have sprung up to assure us that we do not have to worry about sin anymore but those are lies from the pit of hell. Only the enemy profits from a church that is not vigilant against sin. We see mega church pastors falling from grace every week. Recently, one took a 17 year old girl across state lines for sex. Another three in the Orlando area all fell from adultery. This should be a wake up call to the leaders of the church. Sin is always waiting to destroy our life. Besides these four men, think of the 100,000 people who followed them. There is real damage in this life from sin. The grace of God assures us of our eternal security but it does nothing to protect us from the principle of sowing and reaping in our temporal lives.
When Achan tried to hide his sin under his tent, the Israelites lost their battle with Ai. What battles do we lose because of the sins we have buried under our tent today? David forgot this principle and sinned with Bathsheba. It cost him his kingdom and the lives of three of his children. What has sin cost us in our own lives? How much are we willing to lose? Do we truly count the cost? Beloved, God was very specific to His people when Samuel was retiring. Four simple instructions that we need to follow personally and corporately. If we sin we will fall. We need to appreciate all that God has already done in our lives. We must faithfully serve Him. We must be sure to fear God. The time grows short and the hour draws near. It is time to return to the foundational instructions we have been given by God and follow them as if our lives depended on it - because they do.
