The Daily Word of Righteousness

Business as Usual

Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot's wife! Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left. "Where, Lord?" they asked. He replied, "Where there is a dead body, there the vultures [eagles] will gather." (Luke 17:26-37)

Eating, sleeping, working, playing, reproducing—these are five normal human occupations. God has made them so. But when God is moving forward toward the coming of His Kingdom, our normal occupations can hinder us from hearing what the Spirit is saying. This danger is unusually pronounced because of the importance of the present hour, and because of the emphasis of our culture on material things.

I have been concerned about the Christians in America. Our materialistic culture is killing our spiritual life. There is nothing that will separate us from the Life of God as quickly and as thoroughly as will the ordinary pursuits of life.

Concerning the days of Noah, and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, one would expect the Lord to say the people were violent; they were immoral; they worshiped false gods; or something of the sort. Then the flood came, or then the fire fell. Wouldn't you expect something like that?

Instead the Lord spoke of eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, buying and selling, planting and building. Isn't that remarkable?

I think there is a message here for us today.

Last Sunday while John Beck (our youth pastor) was speaking he mentioned his conviction that the revival we are looking for is going to come to individuals We have been mentioning that God is raising up a generation who will serve the Lord. We have been thinking of the youth. However Christine Beck, one of our young ladies, said age is not the criterion. The refreshing is for whoever will choose to serve the Lord. I think this was a word of wisdom for us.

John's comment that the revival is going to come to individuals, instead of as the mass revivals of the past, made an impact on Stan Josephsen (our assistant pastor)

To be continued.