Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Excellence”
Our Bible verse for today: “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength.” Habakkuk 3:18-19 (NIV)
Our thought for today: “This is how the people of God live with excellence in a very troubled world.”
The Old Testament prophet Habakkuk was distraught over the condition of his country. Things were really bad for the Jews. The nation of Judah was literally dying. For generations they had been ruled by corrupt leaders, their religious officials were sinful charlatans, and as a nation the people had drifted far from God. Despite repeated calls to repentance delivered by a steady parade of prophets and messengers from God, the nation continued in its sinful ways.
So, God gave them over to the consequences of their own poor choices. He removed His blessings and protection from them. Slowly but surely their society rotted from within and then, the Babylonians came. This longtime enemy brought a mighty army, crushed the army of Judah, and took the entire nation captive. Now, in Habakkuk’s day, things were worse than they had ever been for Judah and the end of their existence as a nation was near.
But as bad as things were, Habakkuk had strong faith in God and he called the people to do the same. Here’s how he ended his short letter:
“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.” Habakkuk 3:17-19
The lesson from Habakkuk applies to us too. First, no matter how bad things get in our country we need to always remember that we are citizens of the kingdom of God first, and citizens of the USA second. Our real home is in heaven and we’re just passing through this world as we journey to our real home.
And then, the way the people of God live with excellence in the midst of a very troubled world is by remembering that God is Sovereign over the affairs of nations, and over the affairs of our individual lives. No matter how bad things seem, Jesus is still on the Throne and you’re still saved. That’s reason enough to be positive. It’s also a really good reason to sing His praises and to remain joyful.
Like Habakkuk, we the people of God are to simply keep preaching and teaching Biblical truth. We are to live as godly examples in a corrupt and dying world and we are to call people to repentance. Our message is simple: “The society around us may be going to hell in a hand basket but Jesus is still on the throne, I’m still saved, and you can be too.”
As the people of God we are to be engaged in the affairs of the nation – salt and light in a dark and decaying society – but we are not to despair or give up hope just because things seem to be going badly in society. The affairs of men are simply the back story. It’s the ongoing work of the kingdom of God in the middle of the affairs of men that really matters. And on that level, in the spiritual realm, Jesus wins.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 