DAMAGED CORE
No matter how substantial the structure of a house, if the foundation is weak, it will not last long. No matter how tall and strong a tree might appear to be, a small root will cause it to be uprooted in a storm. No matter how beautiful a car looks on the outside, its power and output will depend on its engine. For everything in life, there is the outside structure and then there is the core. The structure might determine people’s impressions about it, but the core determines the longevity and the output.
For our earthly existence as well, there is the structure and the core. The structure might be our appearance, our reputation, our prosperity and our abilities. These pretty much determine the impression we make on others around us. But at the core of our human existence, we are made to be dependent on God. That core which forms the spirit of man has the unique need to be satisfied by the Eternal Spirit, God from whom we came to be. When that core is neglected, trouble looms ahead. The story of Manasseh, tribe of Israel comes to mind.
23 The people of the half-tribe of Manasseh were numerous; they settled in the land from Bashan to Baal Hermon….24 These were the heads of their families: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah and Jahdiel. They were brave warriors, famous men, and heads of their families.25 But they were unfaithful to the God of their ancestors and prostituted themselves to the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them. 26 So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria (that is, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria), who took the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh into exile. (1 Chronicles 5)
The leaders had everything going for them- they were brave, famous and reputed in their communities. However, their core got damaged. Several generations ago, when their ancestors came out of Egypt, their core was right. They depended on God and had the faith to defeat nations several times their size. Consequently, they settled down in the land but over the years, lethargy for God crept in. They held on to everything on the outside that God granted them but neglected the core that nourishes it all. They turned away from God and were unfaithful. When faced with a choice between God and the practices of the nations they settled in, they chose the latter and soon became indistinguishable from the nations around them. Destruction and captivity were imminent.
Nothing has changed in the present-day times. As it has been for centuries, man is constantly faced between a choice to remain true to God and to merge one’s lifestyle with the practices of the world around. The core gets damaged when man chooses the latter and abandons God. There should be no surprise when the natural end-result of destruction then comes home.
