When Personal Nature Opposes God

Scripture: God struck some of the men of Beth Shemesh who, out of curiosity, irreverently peeked into the Chest of God. Seventy died. The whole town was in mourning, reeling under the hard blow from God, and questioning, "Who can stand before God, this holy God? And who can we get to take this Chest off our hands?" 1 Samuel 6:19-20

Observation: After the Philistines were struck with plagues for having taken the ark, and returned it to Israel, 70 Israelites die for disrespecting the Lord by opening the ark. The Lord had certain rules about the ark, and certainly no one was to look into it, and only Levites were to handle it.

However, the response of the residents of Beth Shemesh isn't "Oops, we messed up." It's "We can't handle being around God, so let's get rid of the ark." The Philistines had a similar experience. In all cases, the people don't want to understand the Lord, obey his instructions, worship and honor him, and then be obedient to his word. Instead, they want to live their normal lives without God's involvement, and even disobeying the Lord's instructions when it fits their natural inclination to do so, and thus when the consequences come they would rather get rid of God than alter their own lives.

Application: I would much rather have the Lord be closer to me, than to stubbornly cling to my own 'nature' and push God away. Of course, I often do the latter. I have three ways that I need to alter my life and my nature, to better align to the ways of the Lord.

1) Speaking harshly when others disrespect me. This has come up in the last few days. There are going to be people in the world who just don't care about me and my expectations, even when I'm paying them to care. I don't have to like that, but I don't need to be harsh. I can instead show the grace of kindness of Jesus.

2) Spending time in meaningless thought. I spend a great deal of 'down time' mindlessly engaged in mindless 'content', much of which is poison to my mind and soul. I would be so much better off to spend time in meditation on the Lord and his word, as taught by Jesus, Jeremiah, and the psalms.

3) Paying attention to others instead of myself. There are so many people around me who are hurting badly, and who really just need someone who demonstrates caring. I have a way of turning conversations into being about me, and not listening deeply to others in the first place. It would be so much better if I embraced the heart of Jesus, and loved others more than I love myself.

Prayer: Lord, I have been praying along these lines for some time now. I don't want to be a resident of Beth Shemesh, who would rather throw you out of my life instead of addressing my wrong nature. I want more of you in my life, oh Lord, and I want your Holy Spirit dwelling within me in more and more authority. May I therefore bend, or break, my nature to your will. Soften my heart toward others, and help me set my mind on things above every day. Amen.