What do these things have in common? 1. Rebuilding after Hurricane Sandy.
2. Sporting events such as NBA, NFL, MLB.
3. Technological advancements.
4. Mega churches.
5. Military fortification

Give up? They are things that display human abilities. Human achievements. As such, they could be what draw us away from God because God does not delight in human abilities or human achievements. “His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of man; the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.” Ps. 147:10,11

Think through how these seemingly good things could be used to defy God:

1. “An act of god destroyed us, but we will unite and build bigger and better!” (No repentance. Isa 9:10 – look this up!)
2. “These 22 year olds worked hard to achieve athletic skills. They deserve to be millionaires!” (No acknowledgement of who gave them the abilities)
3. “With technology, anything is possible” (The tower of Babel, anyone?)
4. “With proper marketing and technique, we can build our church bigger faster!” (Jesus would’ve failed as a mega-church pastor)
5. “No one dare attack us if we are 10 times stronger than everyone else!” (What about “In God We Trust?”)

Please do not misunderstand. I think rebuilding after Sandy is important. I think sporting events are fun, etc. But they cannot be the thing we depend on. We cannot depend on our own strength and abilities. We must depend on God and our hope in His unfailing love!

The difficult part is that it’s subtle. We do not realize we are depending on ourselves and our systems.

Pray that God will open our eyes. Come to church this Sunday. I’ll tell you more about it that might just change your life!

PH