I am Israel

I just absolutely adore my Bible study group.
We're crazy, we're weird, and there's a lot of laughs, but when we come together to study God's Word, there's just a lot to be found there.
And it's great.

Last week, we were learning about Ehud (my second favorite) and Barak and Deborah and Jael (my favorite!).
About how Israel seemed to fall morally when they were at the top of their game in the eyes of the world.
About what lessons we could draw from that.

One thing that really struck me was the fact that I usually point the finger at Israel in the Bible and I'm like "Oh my gosh, you guys are so dumb! You just saw God part the Red Sea! And you're freaking out over nothing! How could you just turn your back on Him like that after all He's done for you?"
But our discussion last Friday made me think of something, which I told them.
We are not different at all.
We do the exact same thing.
There's really only two differences between Israel and us:

1. We have the Holy Spirit, which they didn't have. That actually give us less of an excuse, if there are any excuses to be had.
2. We weren't written about for other people to read about for the next 4,000 years.

All things considered, though, we are the same.
God could do something incredible for us, and we'd be genuinely thankful about it . . . until we realize the Godsend car to get us to work and back has a leak in the power steering pump.
We're obedient . . . until we really wanna do that other thing that - while it's not wrong - isn't God's best.
We're outspoken . . . until we see that one of our friends had a bad experience at a church once and doesn't want to talk about God.

No, we didn't go hog wild waiting for the service to start last Sunday like the Israelites did while Moses got the Ten Commandments.
No, we didn't make our children pass through the fire . . . Oh, no, wait, yes we did.
Yeah, we worship at the idol of college degrees, political power, and high-paying jobs.

I'm admitting I'm no different, really. Actually, Jesus holds us to a higher standard.

Do you still think you're different?