Heavens Eyes

     The people of Israel were in exile. Rejecting the word of the Lord for their own pleasures and idols had separated them from the One who had done so much to free them from their bondage in Egypt.

     As a God of holy perfection, Israel's "Jehovah Jireh", the Lord who provides, was unable to commune with His people, so cankered were they by sin and moral corruption. Justice and compassion were forged together as a paralyzing example of what happens to those who defy the living God who rules in righteousness over His people, yet is filled with a passionate love no man could ever understand.

     Justice had come to Israel; justice was deserved. But God spoke: and he spoke to them with love. Desiring their sanctification through him as he gathered them from their enemies "That they will know that I am the LORD their God because I made them go into exile among the nations, and then gathered them again to their own land, and I will leave none of them there any longer..." (Ezekiel 39:28), the Lord spoke through the prophet Ezekiel to the people of Israel:

     "...I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none."  (Ezk. 22:30)

     Through all that God had done for them, his deliverance, his compassion, his love, Israel chose to reject him. The judgment they were experiencing was justly deserved. And yet... Yahweh looked for one; one who would stand in the gap, intercede for the people, and desire to follow after righteousness at a time faced with vile wickedness and immense compromise among his people. For this one, the nation of Israel may have been spared. But he found none.

     We face a dilemma today in our country. We the church, those who claim to follow Christ, are rejecting our God for idols made to feed our desires of self gratification. We serve the god of media, of social status, of achievement. We live either to serve the god of our bodies or use our bodies as a god to serve us. Our focus is inward and our goals are often cheap and vapid.

     Yet... God looks for one. One person to stand in the gap. One person to rise up in prayer as a David against the Goliath of our culture. One person who will not conform. One who will lay down their pride in a humble cry, Lord here am I, send me".

     Our God is holy. This means he is perfect and righteous. It's because of his love and justice that we must someday answer to our actions. Yet heavens eyes seek that one.

     Are you willing to make the sacrifice? Will you stand in the gap? As a bond-servant of our Savior will you allow yourself to be used by him no matter what the costs? Even when you are rejected by those you love? Even when you are spit on as the fool while all the world looks on and laughs?

     Don't let this culture define who you are or the gods you serve. When the eyes of heaven gaze down in the sludge and grime of our sinful ways, may we stand with unwavering resolve against the compromise of the world around us. May we be surrounded by the convicting words of the gospel presented through a humility that displays, in glorious splendor, the name of our awesome God.

Heavens Eyes are searching. The world's eyes are watching.... Who is ready to rise up for all to see?