MAKE YOUR WAY BACK HOME

Zephania 3:1-2 Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled! She obeys no one, she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the LORD, she does not draw near to her God

The text from the prophet Zephaniah, highlights what we can see as the stages of rebellion. To the believer, this is in light of our walk with God:

Level 1
No one can tell you anything. One becomes a god to themselves, thinking they are far above everyone and everything else.

Level 2
You deem yourself beyond reproach. You cannot be corrected or instructed, because how could you ever be wrong. No one can dare chastise you, and no one can dare rebuke you.

Level 3
You do not trust in the LORD. Instead, you begin to anchor in uncertain riches, your own abilities, strengths and leverage.

Level 4
You do not draw near to God. This becomes an active decision, buttressed by a series of actions that increases the distance between yourself and God. Physically, you stay away from the places and spaces where God is lifted up. Your prayer and Word study dry up, because in those actions, God will be seen. That is the state where it takes Mercy to ransom you, especially when your free will has been engaged in that manner.

For very many reasons including the harsh realities of life, outcomes that did not go as we planned, and disappoints or betrayals, many have begun to wander on these levels of rebellion, with some further along than others. Today therefore, we are reminded, charged by the mercies of God, however far along you are, make you way back home into the arms of the loving father. He is waiting.

#sly