Rev. Steve Foss, First Baptist Church Sun Lakes
Have you ever heard of stories when someone lost his way returning home? Perhaps he became disoriented, or was unfamiliar with the territory, or made a wrong turn, or was using the wrong map.
With today’s GPS convenience, one rarely has a crisis in making a return trip. However, even with a map, if an area has changed over a period of years, one may not feel certain about travel decisions due to the absence of markers one may have depended upon in years past that no longer exist.
Markers are very important visual aids to affirm one’s confidence in location. Our nation, including us, needs to return to our markers that made us who we are as a nation. One of those markers was our spiritual heritage. Our early heritage—from the pilgrims, to the Revolution (when Washington established the Corps of Military Chaplains), through every chapter of our country’s history, our spiritual heritage has been the lifeline to our identity as a people.
The prophet Zechariah reminded the citizens of Israel about their spiritual roots when God breathed into him to write: “‘Return to me,’ declares the LORD Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the LORD Almighty” (Zechariah 1:3).
Zechariah may have been influenced by the earlier words of another prophet, Jeremiah, whom God inspired to write: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (Jeremiah 29:12-14).
While Jeremiah’s words reflect God as the lover of our soul, Zechariah’s words are more indicative of a spurned lover’s promise to forgive and reunite. People today so easily discard even the most intimate of relationships that the idea of forgiveness and reconciliation is foreign to their life experience. Yet, it continues to be the heart-cry of Christendom. God seeks us out, making the appeal for each of us to return to Him. Why not try it this month?
Take a challenge test: Try us out for three months and see if your life is not all the better for the effort. It can’t be a half-hearted effort either. It’s all or nothing: Come to worship on Sundays and join in prayer and song, get involved in a Bible study and forge new relationships, discover our community over a family meal on Wednesdays, and join a ministry effort to impact Sun Lakes. That’s what the challenge is, and most of you will laugh the challenge off and refuse to give up the golf round. Nevertheless, I extend the challenge to you.
If America is to be great again, it will come through a great awakening of returning to the Lord. Start this week and accept the challenge. Even the stork knows the appointed seasons to return to her home. So, follow the beacon of God’s Word back to being a part of a faith family in a church. Try ours!