“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”—2 Chronicles 7:14
During the reigns of kings David and Solomon, Israel possessed only about ten percent of what God had promised them.
Think about David, the sweet Psalmist of Israel, the “man after God’s own heart,” and Solomon, with his supernatural gift of wisdom. They elevated the children of Abraham to the status of super power.
Knowing what God did with just ten percent, we can only wonder what might have been if Solomon had received it all! The wealthiest, wisest, most powerful man on the earth settled for a mere portion of the gifts and blessings God intended for him and his nation.
How many of us live with the same small portion of God’s blessings?
Over 7,000 promises in the Bible give us the hope of abundant, rich, and fruitful life!
How many have we appropriated into our lives?
What holds us back?
Os Guinness suggests that it is sloth, defined as, “A condition of explicitly spiritual dejection that has given up on the pursuit of God, the true, the good and the beautiful. Sloth is inner despair…that finally slumps into an attitude of ‘Who cares?’ …It is a sluggishness of spirit, feeling, and mind that eventually overcomes the body like an after-lunch languor.”1
God’s exhortations to Solomon— “humble yourself…pray… seek My face…follow Me…“—are purely based on what He knows to be best for His people.
This word from the Lord is the antidote for spiritual apathy and sluggishness. It is where we start to find spiritual renewal and appropriate all the blessings God intends for our lives.
“Today’s Christians are too often like deep-sea divers encased in suits designed for many fathoms deep, marching bravely forth to pull plugs out of bathtubs.” —Peter Marshall2
1. Os Guinness, The Call, Thomas Nelson, 2003, p. 140.
2. Peter Marshall Quotes, BrainyQuote.com: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/peter_marshall_778595
