Paneling and Paint

08.16.12

Jeremiah 22.15 15 “Do you become a king because you are competing in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. NASB

What do most people do when faced with impending doom? I don’t know many, but those I do seem to get more serious about life – their legacy, their living, making right with those they may have wronged. Gardening. Writing letters. Taking time to make time with others.

Jeremiah’s ministry was unpleasant at best – not because he had a lousy Boss – because those he spoke to weren’t concerned at all with the hoard of Babylonians camped outside the walls of Jerusalem who were ready to destroy them and take any survivors of worth back to Babylon.

The king of Judah was more worried about the construction of his home than he was with the impending doom he faced. It wasn’t getting his house in order that he was concerned with, it was the cedar paneling he was putting in the den. It was the tile he used in the entry. It was the color of paint they were going to put on the outside. Fella! You got bigger issues that this!

The lesson for me this morning is that I am to be more concerned about what is going on around me than I am. What I mean is that I see the world around me falling apart and there are going to be many casualties. And in the midst of this, do I take a view like the king of Judah did and worry about paneling and paint; or do I seek the Lord on behalf of those who seem to be concerned about those kinds of things and not their own souls?

I long for days of decency and discipline and self-control for us as a nation. They’re gone. Even if all of our national problems were to go away tomorrow there wouldn’t be a longing for God the next day; we’re too far gone.

So, in the face of impending doom here is what I think I’m to do: pray, serve, and seek. I pray for my own family and others about the toll that these days are taking on them. I serve my local church faithfully and to the best of my ability. And I seek God in these days. He isn’t worried and until He gets worried, I shouldn’t be, but there are many out there who don’t give a rip because they think this will be over soon and we’ll all get right back to carefree living. We’re too far gone.

Father, if there’s one thing You hate, it’s selfishness and self-centeredness. The ancient kings were all about their slice of the pie not realizing their slice was false hope. Help me not to waste my time on worthless things but to serve You honestly and humbly and faithfully in the autumn days of my pilgrimage on earth. May Your Kingdom come and Your will be done in my life, Amen.