Windswept

Today's passage:  Isaiah 64
     Chicago is not called the Windy City because of it's strong winds, although, we have some pretty windy days.  In a survey a few years back, Chicago actually ranked 10 among the windiest cities.  When we do have them, the gale that pulls off Lake Michigan can be pretty powerful.  I've had my share of days trying to walk into the wind and feeling like I will never get to my destination.  The wind can be so forceful that I have to plant myself before I take another step or I will be pushed back three.
     A very powerful wind can not only push a person back, but topple him over or even carry him away.  "...and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.  And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee:  for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities." The wind has swept me away and as hard as I try, I can never reach the Lord, because the wind is too great.  This verse tells me that my sins are like a windstorm.  My sins are so grievous that no matter what I try to do, they will keep me from the Lord.  I will never be able to reach Him on my own.  It will take One who told the wind, "Peace be still".

Jesus calms the sea saying  Peace, be still--Taken from The Children's Friend (Part 2)
By Mrs. Adelaide Bee Evans
Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1911, 1928

     Verse 7 tells me that I would never be willing to call upon the Lord myself.  I would never take it upon myself to seek Him out.  Compare this verse to I Corinthians 2:9-10 and I discover that it is God that brought me to Him.  His Spirit worked in my life and heart and then I was able to come to Him.  He revealed Himself to me.  Then I had to be willing to accept what I had heard.  I had to humble myself and admit that He is Lord.  This challenges me to be a better witness.  If a person is never presented with God's Word in any fashion, how is His Holy Spirit supposed to work in that person's life so that he can know God?  A person will not seek out the Lord unless the Spirit prompts him.  Our sin is so great and burdensome it will sweep us away.  If a person has not been presented with God's Word or a Godly person, he will never recognize who God is.  What am I saying?  If my friends never darken a churchhouse, if they never hear or see a TV or radio broadcast about Christ, if they never are presented with a gospel tract or a Godly witness in their lives, how will the Spirit ever work in their lives?  How can the Spirit bring them to God, if they never have the Spirit anywhere near them?  
     I have often wondered at people who never seem to account for God in anything that they do.  They wake up from a hangover, go to work, hang out at the bar or club, stay out late only to wake up from another hangover.  They have no issues with sharing their virtue with every stranger, cursing at the kids they produced because of this sin, or letting those same kids be involved in adult activities at a tender age.  They laugh and mock anything that has to do with religion.  They lie, cheat on their spouses (if they have one), gamble at casinos while their babies are left with an older sibling or at the casino daycare.  These things absolutely boggle my mind and I think to myself, "Do you never, ever think about God?"  And then I wonder, has anyone ever told them?  Has anyone presented them with a tract?  Has anyone invited them to church?  Has anyone read their Bible on their work break so they can see that there is an alternative to the life they are living?  Has anyone turned the conversation to spiritual things when they both had their kids in the swings at the park? I haven't done some of these things.  If I really want to see people changed, it is not going to happen with a lifestyle Christianity.  It is going to take the Word of God and the Spirit of God.  My lifestyle may prompt questions, and that is when I need to plunge in and present the Gospel.  My lifestyle alone will not save them, because they can not see that they are lost, they can not comprehend that they are being pushed away with every step by the powerful wind of their sins.  Can I help bring them to the One who told the winds to cease?  Help me do that today, Lord.