Playing the Faith Crowd Game?

“They were united with Moses by baptism in the Cloud and in the Sea.
All of them ate the same spiritual food,
And all of them drank the same spiritual drink.
They drank from the spiritual rock that went with them,
And that Rock was Christ.
Yet . . .(here’s the kicker)
God was not pleased with most of them,
So their dead bodies were scattered over the desert.”

They’d done it all . . . and they’d done it together. The dramatic deliverance from
slavery in Egypt, the Cloud of God on the mountain top, the 10 Laws written by the
finger of God that they were to follow, the 40 years of walking through the endless
desert following a Cloud and Fire, the Sea splitting to allow them to walk through safely
into their Promised Land, and then seeing that Sea wiping out the entire Egyptian army
that had been in hot pursuit of them.

The miracles that God had done for them were unprecedented in all of history. And He
had done it for them because they were truly His People.

Never before, never since, was there such a long-lasting miracle unfolding for the
people God had chosen to be His Own. Sharing such miraculous and faith-building
experiences together had helped to form them into a nation, with a great mission to the
world. God had His Plan for them.

When God does things that only He can do with a people, or a person who He has
chosen, there are lots of people who want to be part of the experience. They want to fit
in with that “Chosen” crowd through which God is moving. They want to be part of the
“fireworks” and the action. They want to be chosen.

But if they have not been chosen by God for carrying out His Plans, or if they are just
looking for a new emotional thrill, God will orchestrate events to sift out those who have
chosen themselves. God looks for people whose hearts belong to Him. They may
have blended in with those God has chosen, may have learned “the walk” and “the
talk”, but God cares about their heart. Blending in with the “faith crowd” can work for a
time, but eventually the Truth will become clear and the performers will fade away.

The ‘Next New Thing’ will come along, but God knows each heart involved. The heart
He looks for is one that has truly surrendered everything because of the love that moves
each to follow Him however He leads, regardless of who is or is not watching or doing it
with you. All that matters is what HE sees in your heart, and that you truly belong to
Him. . .no matter what. You are His.

In your heart of hearts, why are you following Him?