Leviticus 26:43-45 (MSG)
43-45 “The land will be empty of them and enjoy its Sabbaths while they’re gone. They’ll pay for their sins because they refused my laws and treated my decrees with contempt. But in spite of their behavior, while they are among their enemies I won’t reject or abhor or destroy them completely. I won’t break my covenant with them: I am God, their God. For their sake I will remember the covenant with their ancestors whom I, with all the nations watching, brought out of Egypt in order to be their God. I am God.”

Luke 6:46-47 (NLT)
46 “So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say? 47 I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it.

John 14:26 (ESV)
26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

Throughout our history we as a people have been disobedient. I know I am. Current tense. I have been my whole life. I imagine that this might resonate with you. I know this is why so many people refuse to recognize God as who he is – it’s easier to be disobedient than to be obedient when it comes to the weighty responsibility we have to be obedient to His calling.

Yet, His love for us has been proven time after time. His patience is long suffering. His love is pure. His expectations are perfect. He views us from the context of perfection, so we fall short. We view ourselves from the context of others, so we fall long.

He came so that we might be forgiven. He sent us the Holy Spirit to teach us, to follow the teaching. He hasn’t broken His covenant with us. He is God.

So who do we keep calling him Lord? Or, why do we refuse to? Who is the Holy Spirit to you? What does He do in your life? How well are you listening to Him? I know I fall way short.

Lord, convict me through the Holy Spirit to be a listener, a follower, a student, a participant, a seeker, a blessing to the world you’ve given us.

Lord, give me, give us, the power to make the difference in the lives of others like you offer for ours.