What a tragic story! The glory of God left!
I was reading 1 Samuel 4 in the Bible this morning. Eli was the High Priest in Israel. He had a couple of sons who were totally disregarding God's instructions for how priests were to behave. God brought judgement. Ultimately they lost their lives and Eli died as well.
The most tragic part was that because of their disregard of the Lord, the Ark of the Covenant was captured by their enemies. One of Eli's daughter-in-laws recognized the significance and declared the glory of God had left Israel.
This account made me wonder - does the glory of God ever leave our churches? Do we ever disregard God to the point where his presence leaves us? I am sure we can make theological arguments on every angle of this concept.
My prayer is that we would never even be close to the potential of this happening - if it is possible. May we draw near to God, allow Him to be at the core of who we are and what we do. May his glory be evident and ever-present.
I was reading 1 Samuel 4 in the Bible this morning. Eli was the High Priest in Israel. He had a couple of sons who were totally disregarding God's instructions for how priests were to behave. God brought judgement. Ultimately they lost their lives and Eli died as well.
The most tragic part was that because of their disregard of the Lord, the Ark of the Covenant was captured by their enemies. One of Eli's daughter-in-laws recognized the significance and declared the glory of God had left Israel.
This account made me wonder - does the glory of God ever leave our churches? Do we ever disregard God to the point where his presence leaves us? I am sure we can make theological arguments on every angle of this concept.
My prayer is that we would never even be close to the potential of this happening - if it is possible. May we draw near to God, allow Him to be at the core of who we are and what we do. May his glory be evident and ever-present.
