A Denver magazine reports a disastrous fire in the city during which a large warehouse, containing tons of ice, was destroyed.
The editor points out that the building actually contained thousands of gallons of a potent extinguisher, but it was frozen. What an eerie picture of the apathetic condition of many of our local churches today. While sin runs rampant throughout the country, fiery faith has become ice cold.
There is a biblical word describing the rebellion to the truth happening even in places of worship.
First, God has been banished from society and social life, and now, there is a movement to even have Him evicted from churches. Our English word “apostasy” describes the widespread departure from the faith that will occur in the days leading to Jesus’ return.
Congregants will desire only positive, upbeat messages from their pulpits. Topics like sin, hell, salvation and judgment will be deemed “hate speech” and prohibited from being preached to the masses. Any mention of Jesus’ blood will be outlawed as offensive, and only state-approved sermons will be given the go-ahead.
If you think this philosophy is far-fetched, one only needs to study the German Evangelical Church amid Hitler’s reign.
We are living in an age where a sense of doom is looming. We feel terrorism’s threat invading even our local neighborhoods. We have all experienced the effects of diseases like COVID and the pandemic that has stolen any normalcy in 2020.
Politics has become volatile as hatred is spewed between parties. There is the ever-present economic insecurity. We hear of devastating earthquakes and tsunamis, and overhead, even the climate is threatening our existence.
Add to these the ever-quickening pace of our nation’s moral decline, the defunding of law and order, and it all begins feeling like the prelude to something, dare I say, worse on the horizon. It’s almost like one big shoe is about to drop, and indeed it is.
We have heard the saying, “Waiting for the other shoe to drop.” This modern idiom traces its origins to the way tenements in larger cities were and built, in the late 1800s, often with bedrooms stacked atop one another. It was common to hear the neighbor above you take of his or her shoes at night and drop them to the floor; first one, then the other.
“Waiting for the other shoe to drop” is to “await a seemingly inevitable event, especially one that is not desirable.” The Bible says that at a time of great turmoil, while the world is groping for peace and security, “destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3). The Bible also says, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news to those who need it.”
I’m not ready to take my shoes off yet. It’s time to live like we are citizens of heaven. This world is not our real home; we are only passing through.
For too long, God’s people have tried playing both sides, attempting to serve two masters when only one can be placated. As Joshua proclaimed years ago, “Choose this day whom you will serve.”
Yes, following Jesus may cost you popularity and position, but the alternative will never satisfy the yearning for eternal love and belonging that is in everyone’s soul. Maybe, we need to learn how to wait for the best so we don’t sell out for the temporary quick fix. As long as I have life, I want to lace up my Nikes – which, by the way, means “victory” in the original Greek language – and run the pace of the race in introducing Jesus’ love to every face I see until I finally gaze upon my Lord in person.
The enemy loves getting us to doubt that the One, who is the truth, will set us free, and also to live in an alternative universe where we think that we know better than God in deciding the direction to take. The enemy also wants us to forever forfeit for some immediate thrills.
Jesus clearly said that He is the Way, Truth and Life. Maybe, rather than settling for a religion, we should seek a real relationship with the One who created us. You must know the One who made you because He knows you and is inviting you to find your forever in Him.
I am startled that we haven’t acted like we have learned anything from history. When I see mob mentality, it only causes my soul to grieve.
God is calling us to experience His perfect love that ousts fear. Intimidation, manipulation, bullying and name-calling, labeling, and lying can’t lead to paradise. It never has and never will, so I refuse to wait for the other shoe to drop.
Keep those who claim to know Jesus with their running shoes on. God has called us to a race that is not so much about finishing first as much as it is about finishing well.
Some people want to live somewhere perfect and peaceful. God is preparing that place for us, but it is not here, so while I am here, I want to bring Him honor and glory by showing others Jesus.
He is the true treasure and Lord we must follow. This shoe is not dropping until I am finished breathing. How about you?
ED. NOTE: The author is the senior pastor of The Lighthouse Church, 1248 Route 9 South, Court House.
