Your Life is an Example

“Then our ancestors joined in the worship of Baal at Peor; they even ate sacrifices offered to the dead! … they mingled among the pagans and adopted their evil customs.”
Psalm 106:28, 35 (NLT)

Revival is when we redeem the culture around us with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Apostasy is when we reflect on that culture and adopt their evil customs as our own. This was the sin of Israel. As a nation, they were supposed to be a “Theocracy.” God had called them. God delivered them from Egypt, where they were slaves, and God forged them into a nation with laws and covenants. He was to be their leader. Yet, when they finally entered the Promised Land, they were only one generation away from losing their distinctiveness. The victories gained under Joshua were soon lost after his generation died. The book of Judges records why in Judges 2:10-12 (NLT) with some of the saddest words in the Bible, “After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the LORD or remember the mighty things He had done for Israel. The Israelites did evil in the LORD’s sight and served the images of Baal. They abandoned the LORD, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods, worshiping the gods of the people around them. And they angered the LORD.”

This tells me that we are only one generation away from extinction if we commit the same mistakes Israel did.  I find two fatal errors. Israel was called to be different. They were to show a watching world what a people chosen by God should look like. They were to reflect His image and likeness as an example to other nations. Instead, they allowed the gravitational pull of the sin around them to bring them down until they personally began to imitate that culture. As a result, they made the second, fatal mistake. They failed to train the next generation. How else would it be possible for another generation to grow up not knowing the Lord or remembering the mighty things He had done for Israel? This is why we invest so much in our children’s and student ministries at Woodlands Church. Our future depends on it! Each generation is like a relay race and the most critical moment in a relay race is at the exchange of the baton. You can be ahead in the race but if you drop the baton, you will fall behind and may lose the race. One of our core values must be to stand for the next generation! How else will they know the Lord, if we do not tell them and show them by the difference in our own lives.

Dr. Howard Hendricks, a former Professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, used to say, “If your Christianity doesn’t work at home, it doesn’t work. Don’t export it!” Our kids have amazing hypocrisy radars! Are they seeing Christ in us? How are our lives lived differently from the world around us? Are we showing them how to live the Christian life? If not, there is too much at stake for us to remain unchanged. Begin today repenting of personally imitating the culture around you and commit your life to Christ. Ask Him to fill you with His Spirit, to live a quality of life that has no other explanation but Christ in you. Connect with other Christ followers to hold you accountable and encourage you in your daily walk. Let your life be an example of the difference knowing Christ makes.

If you’re not connected with a church family, begin there. We invite you to connect with our Woodlands Church family this Sunday at the Membership Class in person or online. You can register now to join us for the class and a free lunch at any of our three campuses.

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Another important part of your daily devotional is spending time with God in prayer. The Woodlands Church Prayer Board lists prayer requests submitted by our members and provides a way to send them some encouragement by using a button on the page to let them know that you prayed for them. Whether you use the Prayer Board, or pray from your heart, the goal is to build the habit of incorporating prayer into your quiet time.

Need prayer yourself? Let us know by submitting a prayer request on the Woodlands Church Prayer Board.