Our society is spiritually diseased. It is a sad reality of today’s world that one can make it through an entire day without an observable reference to God. Our Creator has been intellectually, socially, and institutionally excluded from the college campus, the marketplace, and our leisure time. We are socialized into unbelief and spiritual darkness. In classrooms across America, children are being taught to challenge the existence of anything beyond the five senses. Heaven, hell, God, the soul, prayer—these things aren’t tangible, so we doubt that they are real, even if we are determined to believe they are. Ironically, one of the few institutions where God is openly accessible is our prison system.
Secular humanism is reigning supreme and as a society, we are becoming more blind to God because our experiences with God are becoming few and far between. Even for those who profess to be Christians, studies indicate a lack of time devoted to quiet study, meditation on His Word, and prayer.
As I was re-reading Genesis, I recognized how early on God met Adam and Eve every day for a walk in the Garden. He established then a pattern of communion that has since gone awry. From the moment the first couple hid in the bushes, we have been slowly but consistently moving away from Him.
Not Just for the Unbeliever
This movement is not just limited to the ungodly. All of mankind shares in this spiritual disease because walking with Him daily makes us accountable and thus, uncomfortable because of the choices we make on a daily basis. We need only reflect on the history of Israel themselves to see this pattern throughout Scripture and into our modern time as well.
Even in the attendance of religious services and activities can we see avoidance. Many attend worship services out of duty but are not experiencing any spiritual growth. We’re not really seeking to know God better, but merely doing something out of a routine. Thus, it becomes inconsequential to miss a few weeks here and there. It was in this outward form of religious practice that the prophet Isaiah condemned his brethren and was later referred to by Jesus in speaking to the Pharisees and scribes (Isaiah 29:13; c.f. Mark 7:5-9).
The busyness of life makes no time for God. Many of us are working an inordinate number of hours each week just to stay ahead of our bills. Whatever time remains is either for our own leisure or in shuttling our kids to the various activities in their overworked schedules. The concept of quiet time with no television or internet is becoming obsolete. We are driven to always want to be doing something “significant” so we can post our exciting lives on social media as a way to one-up a Friends list who if the truth were to be told, most on this list could care very little.
If we are not intentional about finding quiet time to commune with God, it is never going to happen in our lives. Something or someone will always be made a priority over Him. And this is certainly not going unnoticed by our Lord (Psalm 53:2-3).
If we are to grow spiritually, we must be able to identify and eliminate the ways in which we avoid God. For each of us, the reason is different, yet the net result is the same. My hope is you take this reading today and reflect on your own situation.
We know we can never flee from God’s presence (Psalm 139:7) and that He longs to have an intimate relationship with each and every one of His children, yet we deny Him the opportunity out of our own misplaced priorities.
Ask God to help you identify your patterns of avoidance. Ask Him to remove these patterns so that you can grow in your desire and intent to seek Him daily.
Free yourself from this disease.
