God has called us to a life of vision and purpose, not busyness. He desires more than a busy church-oriented life. A.W. Tozer wrote, “Many have laid the altar and divided the sacrifice into parts, but now seem satisfied to count the stones and rearrange the pieces with never a care that there is not a sign of fire.” What good is the sacrifice without the fire? Our hunger for God is the fire, where our life is the sacrifice.
Throughout the history of Israel and Judah it was said of the “good” kings, “He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, but he did not…” There always seemed to be something left undone. Thankfully, King Josiah was an exception.
In 2 Kings 22, we see Josiah becoming king and “…doing what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight…He did not turn away from doing what was right.” Josiah was doing the best he knew to do and God WAS pleased with him. But is a clear conscience enough?
One day, the sacred scrolls (the scriptures) were discovered and read aloud to Josiah. His response to what he heard should drive us to the Word of God as well. He tore his clothes in despair and said, “Our ancestors have not obeyed the words in this scroll. We have not been doing everything it says we must do.”
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 4:4, “My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t prove I’m right. It is the Lord himself who will examine me and decide.” Yes, I can be busy doing many good things in and for the church. I can even be pleasing to the Lord. But, am I walking in the fullness of God’s favor? Am I doing everything I’m called to do? Am I living in the Word of God? What is He asking of me? What is He asking of you? Do we have the fire needed to consume our sacrifice? If not, let’s acquire the fire!
The reality today for me is that I cannot simply rely on my clear conscience, because…
“It don’t mean a thing!”
