THE CHURCH: Heed the Call

45 Days of Praying for the Elections - DAY 25

Back when we were kids, and our mothers opened the door and called our names that meant it was getting dark and it was time to come into the house. What a dreaded time that was, for it seemed like playing with our friends was getting even better as it got darker. Some of us heeded that call instantly, because we knew what was waiting if we delayed. Others of us waited for the second or third call and for the pitch of that call to intensify, for then we knew she was not playing. Yet still there were others of us who liked walking the tightrope of death and didn’t heed the call at all, because the thought of prolonged fun seemed worth the price of one- or two-months of punishment.

Today, it is not our mothers calling our names, but the Lord our God speaking through His Word and His servants, and they have called us to observe the times and seasons, to abandon our affinity to the things of this world and, heed the call to fervent prayer. Our challenge is to yield to the Holy Spirit and deny our flesh, yet like Job’s wife, we have so enjoyed the pleasures of this world, our status in it, and we want to stay and play in it a little while longer. Church family, heed the call of the ones who labor for your souls (1 Thessalonians 5:12), who rightly divide the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15), who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things (Romans 10:15), even when you don’t like to hear what they have to say.  Heed their call for when we refuse the consequences that await us is a stiff neck (Deuteronomy 10:16, Jeremiah 17:23), a hard heart (Psalm 95:7-9), a chastening (Hebrews 12:6) that, if handled correctly,  yields a peaceable fruit of righteousness (Hebrews 12:11), or  if not handled correctly,  even death.  We have relied heavily upon God’s grace for the opportunities to get our attitudes and thinking right. Let us rely heavily upon God’s Word to be obedient to Him, trusting Him without doubt, and heeding His call and come in! As Jesus told His disciples, “I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.” John 9:4 KJV.

Prayer: Jesus, we confess our sin of disobedience and selective hearing, of choosing to hear and heed when we feel like it, when it serves our purpose, when we are not inconvenienced. Thank You for Your Word and Your challenge to look beyond the temporal and see the eternal, to look beyond the carnal and see the spiritual. Forgive us when we reverse it and only see and operate from the flesh. May the Holy Spirit in every believer rise up with conviction and may we not grow dull of hearing that call to heed, rise up, come in, and pray.
By Sis. Paula Smith