Bank Holiday Musings

Bank Holiday Monday. 

It is great to get away and relax on a Bank Holiday. I should say, for the benefit of those who don't live in the UK, that a Bank Holiday is a national holiday. Everyone is off work for the day. Our tradition is for everyone to go to the same places to relax. As a result we have gridlock on country roads and motorways (Highways). We all enjoy the excitement of sitting for hours in a car and wondering what time we will arrive home. All in all, it's a pretty relaxing day! I am talking a little tongue in cheek. You can have a great day out and be very relaxed if you choose well, where and when you are going. 

I was with my wife, son, daughter, son in law and granddaughter in Houghton Mill near Wyton. It was a beautiful day, the setting was perfect. We paddled in a stream, had a picnic, walked and talked, and laughed and played with our 14 month old adorable granddaughter. 

I had been in Northampton for the weekend talking to young people about God and why He deserves our worship and reverence. It was a fascinating study. The talks were all based on the experience of Ezekiel, an Old Testsment Prophet. 

The people of his generation had drifted away from faith in God. They had forgotten how amazing God is! Their lives had become routine, and complacency about spiritual issues had crept into their lives. Some of them had completely changed direction in life. Some of them had changed religion, some didn't believe on God any more and some had become so busy with life that they didn't think about spiritual issues any more. 

I have a feeling that this is pretty much the case with my generation. The categories that I have described sum up accurately the viewpoints of many people today. 

But in Ezekiel's day something big happened. It all started with a vision that God gave Ezekiel. He was so blown away when he rediscovered what God was really like that it changed his way of thinking for the rest of his life. But the story gets better. Such was the change in Ezekiel that he became a messenger for God and spent the rest of his life persuading his peers about the reality of God. 

My prayer this Bank Holiday the light of the glorious gospel of Christ will shine in some person's heart and that the result will be that they become a 21st century Ezekiel who God will use to communicate His message to their generation.