“God will get you for that!”  Those of us in that awkward age between geezer and codger remember Bea Arthur as Maude saying those lines to her husband Walter on a regular basis.  For those of more tender years, here’s a sampling:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oZx7CjHu14

It’s a funny line, but I remember wincing a bit when I heard it, because it was an echo of what I heard in sermons as a boy and which my mother reinforced regularly.  I grew up convinced that God was pretty much continually poised to fall on me like a ton of bricks for my misdeeds.

Naturally, you expect me to disavow any such claims about God’s vengeance.  You expect me to remind you that God is merciful and compassionate, long-suffering and desirous of restoring lost sheep to the fold – not to serve them up as mutton stew.

Yes… but we can’t ignore the long tradition of the prophets from Samuel and Nathan to John the Baptist who warned the powerful and the plain folks that rejecting God has real-life consequences. That’s the heart of the message in Moses’ final warning to the Israelites before they crossed the Jordan into the promised land:

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you… (Deuteronomy 30:19-20)

I don’t think God stands in heaven, eagle-eyed with thunderbolt in hand to smite sinners, but I do think that when it seems that life is a mess and we are unhappy, it might not be a bad idea to ask ourselves if our relationship with God is all that it should be.  We were made for relationship with God.  It should be the very center of our lives.  If the center is not strong, then we shouldn’t be surprised to see some ragged edges.

Prayer:Loving God, I trust that your will is ever directed to your children’s good.  I know that when I drift from you, my life doesn’t make sense.  Remind me when I am unhappy with the state of my life to draw near to you.  Amen.