Jeremiah 22:21 – I warned you when you were prosperous, but you replied, "Don't bother me." You have been that way since childhood — you simply will not obey me! (NLT)

Our challenge seemed simple but proved more difficult than we imagined.

The final day of school is always a half day. Following our breakfast feast, it's off to the gym where eligible students receive various awards. What follows is two hours of dead time. This particular year, we teachers decided to show a movie. Since we are a Christian school, we cannot show anything but G-rated movies unless we have parental approval. Our lead teacher picked Star Wars, thinking that none of the students would have seen the original and that it would interest them. She was correct on the first count but miserably wrong on the second. What we teachers hoped would be a relaxing time turned into a scene more challenging than the classroom.

Jeremiah, known as the "weeping prophet", was also given a daunting challenge: to deliver a message to God's people warning them of coming destruction by a foreign force — destruction that they had brought on themselves by ignoring God.

Our students ignored the movie because they had no interest in it. Since it was space-related and showed examples of techy stuff, we assumed that they'd love it. The trouble was that our world has advanced so far since the movie was produced that they could tell that the production was dated. Without God's intervention, I'll respond to God the same way the students did to the movie. While I'm born with spiritual interest, I'll ignore God because of my sinful nature unless I listen to the Spirit of God pulling me in the right direction.

As a believer, I've ignored God a number of times because I had my mind on other things. Had we shown the movie earlier in the year, the students may have watched. This was the last day of school, and they were moments away from the final bell — their minds were on summer vacation. Unless I allow God to keep my mind on spiritual things — His business — I'll ignore Him.

A few students were interested in the movie initially but were eventually distracted by classmates who weren't. I, too, have been led away from God by others. Going was my choice, but letting them influence me was my choice as well.

Don't let things or people lead you to ignore God. Doing so always has devastating effects.

Prayer: Father, may we always give You our full attention so that we can accomplish Your perfect plan for us. Amen.

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Martin Wiles <mandmwiles@gmail.com>
Greenwood, South Carolina, USA
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