Undistracted Devotion to the Lord – More so as the coming of the Lord Jesus draws imminently close –

One does not need to be a student of eschatology to recognize how the prophetic words of the Lord Jesus concerning the last days are unfolding before our eyes. This in the light of what the whole world is witnessing in the form of earthquakes as well as national unrest in countries of North Africa and West Asia – more particularly in the last few months.
 

I believe there is no scarcity of reference to the imminent coming of our Lord Jesus in churches today. With the world getting to see devastating pictures from earthquakes in New Zealand (Feb. 21), Japan (Mar. 11) and Myanmar (Mar. 24), preaching of the fulfillment of the prophecies of Jesus must most certainly be preached from pulpits everywhere.
 

In the light of this, I am reminded of what the Word of God says in 1Corinthians 7: 29-31, 35 – and though the context of Paul’s writing was in matters concerning marriage, the spirit of what he is trying to convey is amply clear.
 

But this I say, brethren, the time has been shortened, so that from now on, let even those who have wives be as if they had none;

And those who weep and mourn as though they were not weeping and mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they did not possess anything;
 

And those who deal with this world – over-using the enjoyments of this life – let them live as though they were not absorbed by it, and as if they had no dealings with it. For the outward form of this world – the present world order – is passing away.
 

Now I say this for your own welfare and profit, not to put a halter of restraint upon you, but to promote what is seemly and good order and to secure your undistracted and undivided devotion to the Lord.

I believe that the time has come for churches – in every village, town and city in every district of every state in India and in countries all over the world – to preach the word of God so as to secure from the redeemed and precious saints of God an undistracted and undivided devotion to the Lord.
 

Teachings of earthly blessings from the Lord has its place. Teaching that God desires to deliver us from sickness and debt also has its place. But the time has come and now is when believers all over the world need to live with that single minded devotion to the Lord where eternal things have singular focus in their pursuit of things.
 

Our God give grace to each of us that we do not squander the precious opportunities we have before the Lord’s return, but use every one while it is still ‘today’.

 

A search on earthquakes that occurred in the first three months of 2011 alone produced the following result. The list below contains earthquakes of a magnitude of 6.0 and above.
 

January 2011 

• Santiago del Estero Province, Argentina was struck by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake that occurred on January 1. At a depth of 583.6 km, shaking was weak and was not strongly felt.
• Araucanía Region, Chile was struck by a magnitude 7.1 earthquake that occurred on January 2.
• Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia (Island in the Pacific) was struck by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake that occurred on January 5.
• South of Iran was struck by a magnitude 5.4 earthquake that occurred on January 5, injuring 16 and damaging homes.
• Vanuatu (Island in the Pacific) was struck by a magnitude 6.6 earthquake that occurred on January 9.
• Bonin Islands (South of Tokyo, Japan) was struck by a magnitude 6.5 earthquake that occurred on January 12.
• Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia was struck by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake that occurred on January 13.
• Southwestern Pakistan, 45 km west of Dalbandin, was struck by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake that occurred on January 19.
• Tajikistan was struck by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake that occurred on January 24.
• Simeulue (Indonesia) was struck by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake that occurred on January 26.
• Southeastern Iran was struck by a magnitude 6.0 earthquake that occurred on January 27.
• Jan Mayen island region (Norway) was struck by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake that occurred on January 29.
• Tonga (South Pacific) was struck by a magnitude 6.0 earthquake that occurred on January 31.

February 2011

• Northwest of Myanmar was struck by a magnitude 6.4 earthquake that occurred on February 4.
• Solomon Islands (Pacific) was struck by a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that occurred on February 7.
• Celebes Sea (near Indonesia) was struck by a magnitude 6.5 earthquake that occurred on February 10.
• Offshore Bio-Bio (Chile) was struck by a magnitude 6.8 earthquake that occurred on February 11.
• Tonga (South Pacific) was struck by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake that occurred on February 13.
• Offshore Maule (Chile) was struck by a magnitude 6.6 earthquake that occurred on February 14.
• Sulawesi (Indonesia) was struck by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake that occurred on February 15.
• South of the Fiji islands was struck by a magnitude 6.4 earthquake that occurred on February 21.
• Canterbury Region of New Zealand was struck by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake that occurred on February 21.

March 2011

• Easter Island region (Pacific) was struck by a magnitude 6.0 earthquake that occurred on March 1.
• Tarapacá region (Chile) was struck by a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that occurred on March 6.
• South Sandwich Islands region (South Atlantic) was struck by a magnitude 6.5 earthquake that occurred on March 6.
• Solomon Islands (Pacific) was struck by a magnitude 6.6 earthquake that occurred on March 7.
• Near the east coast of Honshu (Japan) was struck by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake that occurred on March 9.
• Papua New Guinea was struck by a magnitude 6.5 earthquake that occurred on March 9. 
• Bali Sea (near Indonesia)was struck by a magnitude 6.5 earthquake that occurred on March 10.
• Near the east coast of Honshu (Japan) was struck by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake that occurred on March 11.
• Tonga (South Pacific) was struck by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake that occurred on March 12.
• Vanuatu (Pacific) was struck by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake that occurred on March 17.
• The Philippines particularly in the Northern Luzon region was struck by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake that occurred on March 20.
• Southern Mid-Atlantic ridge was struck by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake that occurred on March 22.
• The east of Shan State in Myanmar was struck by a magnitude 6.8 earthquake that occurred on March 24.

The Tragedy of Wasted Religious Activity

There is probably not another field of human activity where there is so much waste as in the field of religion.

It is altogether possible to waste an hour in church or even in a prayer meeting. The popular "attend the church of your choice" signs that have lately been appearing everywhere may have some small if they do no more than remind a materialistic civilization that this world is not all and that there are some treasures that cannot be bought with money. Yet we must not forget that a man may attend church for a lifetime and be none the better for it.

In the average church we hear the same prayers repeated each Sunday year in and year out with, one would suspect, not the remotest expectation that they will be answered. It is enough, it seems, that they have been uttered. The familiar phrase, the religious tone, the emotionally loaded words have their superficial and temporary effect, but the worshipper is no nearer to God, no better morally and no surer of heaven than he was before. Yet every Sunday morning for twenty years he goes through the same routine and, allowing two hours for him to leave his house, sit through a church service and return to his house again, he has wasted more that 170 twelve-hour days with this exercise in futility.

The writer to the Hebrews says that some professed Christians were marking time and getting nowhere. They had plenty of opportunity to grow, but they had not grown; they had had sufficient time to mature, yet they were still babes; so he exhorted them to leave their meaningless religious round and press on to perfection (Heb. 5:11-6:3).

It is possible to have motion without progress, and this describes much of the activity among Christians today. It is simply lost motion.

In God there is motion, but never wasted motion; He always works toward a predetermined end. Being made in His image, we are by nature constituted so that we are justifying our existence only when we are working with a purpose in mind. Aimless activity is beneath the worth and dignity of a human being. Activity that does not result in progress toward a goal is wasted; yet most Christians have no clear end toward which they are striving. On the endless religious merry-go-round they continue to waste time and energy, of which, God knows, they never had much and have have less each hour.

Back of this tragic waste there is usually one of three causes: The Christian is either ignorant of the Scriptures, unbelieving or disobedient.

I think most Christians are simply uninstructed. They may have been talked into the kingdom when they were only half ready. Any convert made within the last thirty years was almost certainly told that he had but to take Jesus as his personal Saviour and all would be well. Possibly some counsellor may have added that he now had eternal life and would most surely go to heaven when he died, if indeed the Lord does not return and carry him away in triumph before the unpleasant moment of death arrives.

After that first hurried entrance into the kingdom there is usually not much more said. The new convert finds himself with a hammer and a saw and no blueprint. He has not the remotest notion what he is supposed to build, so he settles down to the dull routine of polishing his tools once each Sunday and putting them back in their box.

Sometimes, however, the Christian wastes his efforts because of unbelief. Possibly we are all guilty of this to some degree. In our private prayers and in our public services we are forever asking God to do things that He either has already done or cannot do because of our unbelief. We plead for Him to speak when He has already spoken and is at the very moment speaking. We ask Him to come when He is already present and waiting for us to recognise Him. We beg the Holy Spirit to fill us while all the time we are preventing Him by our doubts.

Of course the Christian can hope for no manifestation of God while he lives in a state of disobedience. Let a man refuse to obey God on some clear point, let him set his will stubbornly to resist any commandment of Christ, and the rest of his religious activities will be wasted. He may go to church for fifty years to no profit. He may tithe, teach, preach, sing, write or edit or run a Bible conference till he gets too old to navigate and have nothing but ashes at the last. "To obey is better than sacrifice."

I need only add that all this tragic waste is unnecessary. The believing Christian will relish every moment in church and will profit by it. The instructed, obedient Christian will yield to God as the clay to the potter, and the result will be not waste but glory everlasting.

The above extract is from the book, "Born after Midnight" by A. W. Tozer and published by Christian Publications Inc., USA. 

Although this book was written in 1959, what he wrote then is still relevant today. Oh that Christians all over will hearken the voice of the Spirit of God; that he will awake and arise so that Christ may shine on him.