Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Excellence”
Our Bible verse for today: “Then the cherubim, with the wheels beside them, lifted their wings, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. The glory of the Lord rose up from within the city and stood on the mountain east of the city.” Ezekiel 11:22-23 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “The drift from excellence to mediocrity is gradual.”
In Ezekiel’s day the people of God were living in idolatry and rebellion. They were not being faithful to God. For His part, God kept sending prophets and messengers to call them back to faithful obedience, but they were largely unresponsive and they continued to drift further and further away from God.
And so, gradually, God progressively withdrew His glory from them. As we follow the progression as it unfolds in chapters nine through eleven, we find that God’s glory moved from the altar in the Temple to the threshold of the Temple. Then it moved outside the Temple, and then it hovered over the city, and then it stood atop a mountain overlooking the city, and then it was gone.
The steady drift from excellence in their relationship with God, to mediocrity in that relationship, to the total absence of God’s glory, was gradual but steady. They got lazy in the practice of their faith and God responded accordingly.
This is actually a pattern we see played out repeatedly all throughout the Bible, beginning with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, continuing on throughout the long history of God’s people as recorded in the Old Testament, and then right up to the book of Revelation when Jesus said in Revelation 3:15-16: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of My mouth.”
In our relationship with God, and as a matter of how we practice our faith, we are to strive for excellence. We will never be perfect, but perfection should be our desire and the pursuit of excellence should be our goal. When we get lazy in the practice of our faith, and content with a casual and superficial relationship with God, we have drifted into mediocrity. That will never turn out well for us. If we drift away from God He will let us go, and we will be the ones to suffer for it.
If we want God’s blessings in our lives we need to live in such a way that He can bless us. God does not and will not bless mediocrity. He will instead withdraw His glory. He will withdraw it from our congregations and from our individual lives. I urge you not to be that person from whom the Lord must gradually withdraw the glory of His blessings. Remain faithful and strive for excellence in your relationship with Him.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 