Let Us Wonder

Let's face it one of the main problems facing the American church right now is spiritual boredom. We are bored with God, we are bored with His promises, and worst of all we don't seem to be doing much about it. Our culture is all about the newest and best movie, phone, or whatever. We want our satisfaction and we want it now. We don't commit, we prostitute ourselves out to any sort of new entertainment that looks pleasurable as it passes us. We aren't disciplined and we definitely aren't patient. 


Why? Why do we refuse to see God in all of His glory? Why do we choose to pursue anything less than our Creator? Why are we okay with being mediocre Christians?


C.S. Lewis' words from the "Weight of Glory" ring truer than ever today. "We are far too easily pleased." We choose to pursue and find our pleasure in the temporal and transient things of this world that are dying before our eyes. We take for granite the abundant luxuries we have, and we even take for granted the awe inspiring promises of God?


Where do we we get this boring insufficient view of God? Because it is definitely not coming from the Living Word.


We are fallen and flawed and incapable of loving God and others perfectly, but what scares me the most is that it doesn't even seem to bother anybody that we don't pursue God with the fervor and zeal that the writers of the Bible did.

Romans 5:7-8

⁷For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— ⁸but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

But thankfully our God is gracious. He sent His only Son to die on the cross for our sins. Christ died not only for you and me, but because of you and me. Do we understand that? The awe and wonder those simple two verses inspire is indescribable. The message of Jesus is all about a transaction for which we pay nothing, Christ who knew no sin became sin, so that we may become the righteousness of God ( 2 Cor, 5:21). If we just meditated on this promise for 5 minutes every day for year our lives would be altered drastically. The love and grace of Christ dying, so that we may eternally enjoy the presence of our Creator is worthy of all praise and worship.

God is enough. He is truly worth everything. He gave up His Son and poured His wrath out on Him for us. We don't think or talk about the wrath of God enough at all. It's sobering and honestly just scary to think about, but thankfully Christ died to deliver believers from it. God doesn't desire for us to be punished, but He is just so sin had to be punished. God in all of His glory, before time, had a holy and divine plan to bring us near to Him through the sacrifice of His Son on the cross for the sins His people. It's God's desire for all to reach repentance, and He has made a way for us (2 Peter 3:9). Why do we spite Him by finding wonder and pleasure in the fleeting things of this world?

I want to challenge myself and anyone who reads this to make a commitment to meditate on just one promise of God every day for a month. It doesn't have to be for long period of time, but we need to take time to just wonder at God's grace. I believe and I know once we begin to do this we will see that we can never exhaust the glorious implications of God's promises. Isn't that awesome? We have been given something freely, not for free because it cost God His only Son, but we have been giving something freely from God that will eternally bring us pleasure and eternally mystify us.

How beautiful and different the church of God would be if we all took the time to be still before Him and meditate on His holiness. How different we would be if we treasured God above everything else. Just think how different our relationships and lives would look and as you think give all the praise and glory to God for the work He has done and continues to do. Worship God in wonder and awe because of His sufficient grace and perfect and sovereign hand that works through all things.

Deuteronomy 10:20-22

²⁰ Fear the LORD your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. ²¹ He is your praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. ²² Your forefathers who went down into Egypt were seventy in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.

Father, we confess that we satiated and bored;

Creation has bored us.

Work has bored us.

Family has bored us.

Friends have bored us.

Our homes bore us.

Television bores us.

Redemption has bored us.

Truth has bored us.

You have bored us.

No generation in history has ever had so much to entertain it.

We are jaded and cynical.

We think the world is our servant, so we are not thankful when things go well for us, and we are not patient when they do not.

We laugh, but we do not know joy.

We are captivated, but are never really awed.

We celebrate, but we do not worship.

Have mercy on us, and forgive us.

Amaze us with grace-blood stained, incarnate, Messianic grace.