v 22 Then she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the Ark of God has been captured.”
It was Eli’s daughter-in-Law, with her one word, Ichabod, who saw so clearly the implications of the defeat. It was not the loss of the material Ark that made the difference, it was the fact that God’s glory had been affronted by the spiritual blindness of the nation’s leaders who had trusted the Ark rather than God Himself.
How easy for us to make the same mistake! In a materialistic age it is so easy to put our trust in things or our own good reputation. We have the money; we have the buildings; we have wonderful IT equipment; we have the right personnel; we have …. They all count for nothing and can drag us down to oblivion unless we have God Himself in our hearts.
History will tell us that have been many ‘great churches’ that have ended in a downward spiral because a God-centred focus has gone missing. Church historians have sometimes felt compelled to write Ichabod over a period of Church history when congregations have dwindled, and faith has lost its impact on an unbelieving society.
It is incumbent on us to pray and retain the right priorities in our generation.
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