“So as I live, ‘ declares the Lord God, ‘surely, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols, and with all your abominations, therefore I will also withdraw, and My eye shall have no pity and I will not spare.”
PODIS has the Secret Service, and celebrities have bodyguards. You can even hire people to guard your car. We have alarm systems for our homes and car alarms for our vehicles, so if anyone tries to break in or steal, the alarm sounds and, hopefully, nothing bad happens. There is also virus protection software to keep our computers safe from would-be attackers. We also had a home alarm system for many years. We always forgot to turn it on at night, so the alarm company got some bonus pay all those years. In our world, we are obsessed with being safe. This is not a bad thing, but I believe we have all seen people go too far.
Some of us have a security view of the Lord. We get saved at church and commit to attend every Sunday. This is like paying to have the alarm system installed in your home and committing to the monthly payments. We adjust our personal lives to absorb the commitment to the Lord, cut the Sunday breakfast and go to church, opting for lunch instead. We have signed the Christian contract and committed to the terms. Stop this or that because it is not Christian to say or do these things. From the outside, we look as if we are living the Christian life, and everyone is happy.
In your new life, you forgot to read the fine print: Matthew 5:45, “that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” When the rains come and evil descends, you begin to wonder if your Christian alarm system is working at all. A few close calls, and you start to second-guess your service. Soon enough, you find yourself complaining about your Christian alarm system and telling your friends, the ones without that service, that you cannot wait to get out of the contract. The day comes that you withdraw from that life and never look back.
God is not your alarm system. In Ezekiel, we find that the Lord withdrew from His people because of the idols and abominations they refused to give up. The Lord became an alarm system for them. They did not read the fine print about obeying all the laws of the Lord. Even Jesus said that this world is evil, but He tells us not to fear because He has overcome the world.
Be careful when you look at the Lord God and see Him as an alarm for your life. When you start down a road that is bad and against the Lord, He sounds the alarm, and the evil one flees. It says in Ephesians 6:10-18 for us to put on the armor of the Lord so we can fight against the evil one, not for us to sit back and let the eternal alarm scare the bad guys off. We have a part to play, and if you read Ezekiel, the Israelites did not play their part well at all. The Lord had to withdraw so that they could learn that going against the Lord is a losing proposition. Today, stay committed to the Lord and let the Holy Spirit guide you into perfect peace.
Prayer: Father, help us to redirect our lives all the time. As sinners, we are constantly warring against the flesh and sin. We have been made alive in Christ, but that does not mean we never get tempted by Satan. I pray that we always refresh our commitment to you, Lord. I pray that we resist the devil and watch him flee. I pray that we stand upon the victory we have been given through Christ. I pray that our every thought is done in worship to you, Father. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Let It Go 
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