Waist Deep 2018 - February 26


II Chronicles 15: 2-4 “The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law. But in their distress they turned to the Lord . . . and sought him, and he was found by them.” (NIV)


Despite the technological changes from ancient civilization to our present time, the human condition has not changed.*


“It goes without saying . . .” is always followed by saying what should go without saying. It seems un-necessary to point out that God is with you when you are with him and he’s not when you’re not. But the Israelites had a history of needing to hear the obvious. We see here a condensed version of Israel’s story – one that was repeated over and over. They turned their backs on God; they got into trouble; they turned back to God – and he took them back. For them, “it goes without saying” is just a saying.

This passage paints a picture of our loving Father. He doesn’t hold grudges, and he never reminds us that we are not worthy of his trust. Living in right-relationship to God requires some circular reasoning: we must have a relationship with God in order to have the power to maintain our part of the deal so that we can have a relationship with him.  When we are with him, he is with us. One-hundred percent.


The call to remain faithful to God challenges [us] to make [our] relationship with God [our] priority in life.*


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