The One Year Bible - Day 261

God is generous in providing many physical analogies of spiritual truths in the Bible. Jerusalem at this time was a fortified and famous city. Physically, it believed it was mighty and largely untouchable but God tells them that they will be all but destroyed. For us, this is a metaphor for pride and the earthly kingdoms we create, even God forbid in the church, and the way in which we think these fortifications are our salvation. The numbers in the congregation, the number of ministries we are involved with, the number of countries and conferences we get invited to speak at mean precisely nothing, "unless the Lord builds the house". Sadly for Jerusalem, they didn't see that their house was not God-built and they were victims of an invasion that wiped out thousands of Jews before being taken away to Babylon. We think we learn from these stories but honestly do we? Do we pray enough (I know it is never enough but 10 minutes per week is nowhere near!), do we read our Bibles regularly? Do we take decisions based on the leading of the spirit? If not then I would suggest that we are building earthly kingdoms and they will one day fall down!