The Right Place to Rest
Arise and go, for this is no place to rest; because of uncleanness that destroys with a grievous destruction. (Micah 2:10)
Read: Mic. 2:6-10; Deut. 12:7-10; Isa. 24:5,11
What Is God Saying?
Micah proclaims Samaria, the capital of Israel, a disaster area. God could not let its defiant disregard for His sovereignty and holy laws go unpunished (Mic. 1:6,7). Her images and her idols must be destroyed beyond all recycling and the city a heap of ruin in the open country. A visit to the present site of ancient Samaria is a desolate experience. It is the lament and warning of Micah that the infectious sickness that caused Samaria's demise had spread to the gates of Jerusalem.
Judah was not to be spared because Judah was becoming increasingly defiled. The poor were oppressed. Their property was coveted and prized. Women who once had pleasant houses with happy children were driven out into the street. The people of Judah didn't want real preachers with a real message. They would only listen to those who said what they wanted to hear. The place that used to be home, a place of health, peace, and joy was now a place of uncleanness and destruction. This was no place to rest. This was a place to leave.
How Does This Apply To Us?
For those who had grown accustomed to and tolerant of the polluted land, the prophet's voice was raised in vain. For the others, his warning was loud and clear. ‘Arise and go, for this is no place to rest.’ We can and do allow ourselves to be so tolerant and accepting of that which sickens and defiles our world, that we fail to sense the awful destiny of its constant, steady, downward drag. We live in a civilization that has allowed spiritual values to go under. Sin and sickness are rampant. Christians must be aware that while they are powerless to clean up the toxic waste of sin, they do not and must not come to rest on top of the dump. We can rise and go. God can give us a place to rest when our minds are focused on His Word, our feet are walking in the ways of truth, and our spirits are willing to embrace His perfect plan for our lives. He is not willing that any should come to grievous destruction but that all should reach repentance (II Pet. 3:9).
Pray With Me
Heavenly Father, I am assured that I can find no rest except in Your righteousness and mercy. Keep me from trying to find rest short of Your will or apart from Your will.
Surely ‘this is no place to rest.’ Here, where there is ‘uncleanness that destroys with a grievous destruction,’ I am called upon to work ceaselessly, to walk untiringly, and to watch vigilantly. To rest amid uncleanness is to become infected. To sleep at the post is to invite the enemy's attack. To imagine that I am beyond the reach of uncleanness and can relax is to lay myself open to costly decept10n.
Lord, give me a soul-saving restlessness and unceasing dissatisfaction with the uncleanness of this world. I thank You that there is so much that is good and holy and clean. I know that truth and love are never without their witness. I know that they are never lacking toward me if I am looking toward You. Help me, then, to seek rest only in the green pastures of Your perfect love and protecting grace. Help me to find satisfaction only beside the still waters that never run dry or turn bitter.
By faith, I will not settle down in peaceful co-existence with destructive uncleanness. I want to work in Your Spirit to subdue it. By Your grace, I want to escape it. I will never hope for rest, I will never expect it, I will never want it. I will carefully avoid it, until I find it, Lord, in You.
In the name of Him whose perfect obedience to the Father's will has made possible our perfect rest in the Father's love, now and forever. Amen.
Moving On In The Life of Prayer
God will provide waters that are clean and pastures that are green He will lead us in paths of righteousness away from the oil spills of immorality that pollute and destroy everything along the shoreline of life,
• away from the poverty of lust and into the riches of love,
• away from the sickness of half-truths into the health of His eternal truth,
• away from prayerless indifference into prayer that cares.
We can move on in prayer while resting in the place of God's cleansing and renewing grace.
