Is Your God A Forethought Or An Afterthought?

"A lamp is despised in the thought of one who is at ease; it is made ready for those whose feet slip." Job 12:5 The Scriptures tell us that the Word of God is a lamp given to mankind. "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Psalm 119:105 Why is it then, that so many do not shine its light upon the issues of their lives? Why is it then, that it is "despised?" The Scripture answers that for us. It is despised "in the thought of one who is at ease." In his wooing us, God often places sufficient trial and trauma into our lives for the express purpose of being that lamp in times when our "feet slip." He calls through mercy, he calls through stories that make his call very obvious. But for many, that isn't enough. Sometimes he has to place very painful circumstances in our lives - to rescue us from ourselves. When you are "at ease," do you think of God, or do you just go along, maybe with God in the background of your mind, but making him relatively just an afterthought? Not a forethought, but an afterthought, a resource when you need him but easily forgotten when you don't. How soon we forget him when all is well. How soon we NEGLECT him. Almighty God desires to be the center of our lives, not an afterthought. He desires our time. He desires that we not let busyness occupy us to the extent that we forget him, not placing him first before all. If people had a sufficient understanding of just who God is, they would be shocked. He is not a Santa Claus in the skies waiting patiently for us to perhaps give him some thought from time to time. No, he is the creator of the universe, the one who holds every atom, every molecule in place. He knows us intimately and thoroughly and is constantly trying to get our attention. How sad that the most high God has to resort to such efforts to get our attention. And how dangerous for the ones who don't respond. God so loved the world that he sent his Son Jesus Christ to suffer and die on a cross in order to bear the judgment on our sins. This was the greatest demonstration of love history has ever known, the torture and death of the sinless one on behalf of sinners. How soon we forget what he has done for us. How soon we allow circumstances in life to crowd him out of our minds. We're too busy for him. Turn to the Lord today and give to him the time your creator desires from you. He loves you with a love that is far above anything you've ever experienced or could ever understand. What he wants from you is your time, time to spend in his presence, time to spend in the Word he has given to us, meaning for it to be the very sustenance of our lives. He wants you to CARE about him. And to place him first in your life, not as an afterthought. Is that too much to ask? If so, you're on your own - and your foot can so easily slip. And THEN you will remember the lamp you need to take the next step. How much better it would be to put him first, to give him the place of honor in your life and let him shine his light on you as he so desires. It changes everything.