I was planning to write something else today; however, my thoughts were directed in this avenue today.  Men, if I have offended you with the comment of “milk toast, muffin eating, tea toddling mouse of a man” – then good.  If you want to reach through the screen and throttle the nut case who wrote those words, great.  But before you attempt all that, let me say something (I understand that you are not required to read past this point and read my opinion).

 For too long the men of the church have been at ease and comfort spiritually.  For too long we have abdicated our roles as leaders and as men.  When we remain at ease spiritually, we give the Enemy a foothold in our lives.  Now, there is nothing wrong with a little R&R.  We do need it.  But, we still need to be vigilant.  Take King David for example.  2 Samuel 11:1, 2 says, “Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbath.  But David stayed at Jerusalem.  Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance.” 

David was not where he should have been.  He should have been directing the battle with his troops.  He should have been enduring the hardships of the field with his men.  He should not have been lazing around until the evening and then getting out of bed.  With all that time on his hands, David did something stupid.  He saw Bathsheba taking a bath and lusted after her.  And then he called her over to his house and committed adultery with her.  And then found out she was pregnant.  And then, lied to her husband and ultimately had her husband Uriah murdered.  All because David was taking it easy spiritually and physically.

Revival starts with us, men; but, I think, that it cannot start in us until we have a desperate thirst for God.  David forgot what it was to thirst after God.  Here was the guy who wrote the Psalms about God as protector, God as comfort, God as savior; and he totally set that out of his mind when he saw Bathsheba.  Guys, we need a deep hunger and thirst for God.  We need the desperate desire for God.  We need to set aside our selfish do-it-ourselves pride and realize that we cannot do it ourselves.  Psalm 42:1, 2 says, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?”  I think that when we as men start thirsting for God and have that thirst satisfied by the living God, then we can pass that thirst along to our wives and to our children and to anyone within our sphere of influence.  

A friend of mine asked me this question the other day, “Can you be brutally honest with yourself?”  I ask the same question of you.  Can you get up from where you are sitting, go into the bathroom and close the door, stare at the man reflecting back in the mirror, and ask him if he is at lazy ease spiritually?  Can you be brutally honest with that man?  Or how about this: Can you ask God, in all sincerity, to be brutally honest with you and answer the question about being a milk toast Christian?

 

Men, we need to hit our knees in confession to God for failing as husbands and fathers.  Those of you who are doing it right also need to hit your knees and ask God to keep up the good work in you.  Our wives need men who will lead with a servant’s heart.  Our wives need husbands who will pray with them.  Our wives need men who will call them to repentance when they are wrong.  Our wives need men who will admit their failures and readily confess them to God.  The Marines are looking for a few good men.  More importantly God is looking for men who will be holy and lead their wives and children in holiness before Him with the heart of a servant.  Revival will begin in the heart.  I pray those hearts will be the hearts of men who are broken and submitted to God in all aspects of life.