Dear Explorer,
Read Matthew 12:38-42
The first thing that I want us to look at is the word “adulterous”. Adultery is the sin of a married person having a sexual relationship with someone besides his/her spouse. Jesus is referring to the Jewish people being adulterous in their relationship with God. They were supposed to be “married” to God, but they were serving other gods – like money and popularity and power and religion, etc. Throughout the Old Testament, we see the prophets referring to the nation of Israel as being adulterous (meaning that they were worshipping other gods).
One way to check our own lives for spiritual adultery is to ask: Is there anything in my life right now that is more important to me than my relationship to God?
Read Luke 11:29-32
Who is the Son of Man?
Who is “someone greater than Solomon”?
What is “something greater than Jonah?”
All of these refer to Jesus. In fact, the Son of Man was the title that Jesus used for Himself the most. I think it was His favorite.
In 2 Chronicles 9:1-12 you can read about the Queen of Sheba traveling a great distance and at great expense to hear Solomon teach her about wisdom.
Jonah was a prophet sent to preach to the Ninevites. You can read that story in the book of Jonah in the Old Testament. In Jonah 3:1-9 you can see how sincerely the people repented because of Jonah's preaching.
How sad that the people were in Jesus' physical presence – yet they didn't bow down to worship.
But then, how about you? When was the last time you really fell on your face and worshipped and adored Jesus?
It's amazing to me that we still fail to worship Him the way He deserves to be worshipped!
What are some things that get in the way of you spending time with Jesus?
I discovered a long time ago that if I waited until my alarm went off in the morning – I would get too busy to be able to really worship and pray and study my Bible. So, about 30 years ago, I asked God if He would wake me up around 4 a.m. and help me to slip out of bed without waking my husband. If He would do that – I would meet Him every morning around 4 a.m. Guess what? He has been 100% faithful to wake me up between 3:15 and 5:00 every single morning – and most of the time it's at 3:58 a.m.! He's so good to wake me and I want to be faithful to roll out of bed and worship and praise Him and get my day off to a good start.
Do you know how He wakes me up most mornings? I dream I hear a door bell or an alarm clock going off – I wake up and realize it was just a dream – then I remember that God promised to wake me up – so I say, “You are faithful and with Your help I will do my best to be faithful, too.” Then I get up and start with prayer and Bible study and worship.
Have you chosen a time to meet with God each day for Bible study, worship and prayer?