Devotion #5: What Will it Take?

John Stone

“The Lord reigns, let the peoples tremble; He is enthroned above the cherubim, let the earth shake!” Psalm 99:1 (NASB)

How far does God need to go to get our attention? Isaiah 65:1-2 (NASB) says, “I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me; I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me. I said, ‘Here am I, here am I,’ to a nation which did not call on My name. I have spread out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in the way that is not good, following their own thoughts, a people who continually provoke Me to My face.”

For some of us, we heard the Gospel as a child and something inside us screamed, “Yes!” All our lives it seemed we knew the Lord. Gathering with the church and Christianity were just a part of us (part of our routine) and we would not know any other way to live. For others, like the centurion in Matthew chapter 27, the Lord shook our whole world and turned it upside down. He broke through our hard hearts and closed minds with the force of an earthquake; nothing was left in its place when He was finished.

The Lord God, Creator of Heaven and Earth goes to great lengths to get the attention of lost sinners like you and me. He brings to bear all His power and will literally shake the world if necessary. If you are a Christian, if you consider yourself a child of God, there was a time in your life that God got your attention. You understood that you were a sinner and that there was not anything you could do to pay the penalty for your sin. You joyfully accepted the free gift of grace offered by God, that Jesus Christ died in your place as a sacrifice to pay for your sin, and it is only by His righteousness that you can truly live (Ephesians 2:4-7). However, life then happened. You might have messed up, maybe wandered away following the way of this world (Luke 15:11-32). Perhaps you did not, but things just got busy with family, work, school, sports, and whatever else stole your affection and attention. When you look at your life now, you barely recognize who you once were. The little kid (literal or figurative), who heard the Gospel and screamed, “Yes,” from the depth of their soul, and clung to Jesus for all they were worth, is gone.

If this is you, pray that God sends an earthquake. Ask Him to shake up your life and reduce it to what is truly important - Him. Come back to the foot of the cross and remember who He is and what He did for you. There is no shame in repentance (1 John 4:9) and second chances. Our Father is waiting with open arms.