“Squatters”

Darrel Bird, Oregon

 

 

During the 1800’s the wagons formed up in St. Lewis, families bound for the Willamette Valley in Oregon or the verdant valleys of California, a hard journey of six month’s.

 

Those early settlers were prepared to endure hardship and deprivation in looking for a new land and a better day.

 

Many lost the vision and were wearied of the constant hard travel, the constant breaking of camp, the constant movement, so they stopped and built houses by likely looking spots only to be flooded out, burned out or attacked by tribes who took a dim view of their presence on land that had been theirs for millennia, all because of weariness and loss of vision.

 

Today our churches are like that, large denominations of them, more than the people of bygone days.

 

They have stopped along the trail for the sake of what seems comfortable, “we will make our homes here”, they said, we will build under the green trees of our theology and build they did, became ensconced in the comfort of tradition.

 

They became squatters and the enemy comes forth to destroy them.

 

In the book of Hebrews chapter eleven verse 8 we find the writer saying that By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

Hebrews 11:9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:

Hebrews 11:10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

 

Yet the churches have done just the opposite, they squatted along the way of tradition and incomplete theology, refusing to endure the discomfort of being led by the Holy Spirit of God into new lands.

 

Squatting by these streams of incomplete theology and growing comfortable in tradition they built houses by convenient streams of theology and the enemies of that land have taken a dim view of it and attacked.

 

So we drive by the ruins of great spiritual buildings with fallen in roofs and burned out barns and whisper quietly at the ruin.

 

By faith we must keep going, we have camped and rested by Gods Rivers of clear water, but we must not stop here but continue on to that great city whose builder and maker is God. If we stop too long we will be left behind only to have someone take our place that is willing to go on.

 

 

Lead on Lord Jesus.