I will tear them to pieces and go away. I will carry them off with no one to rescue them. Then I will go back to my place until they admit their guilt and they will seek my face and in their misery they will earnestly seek me. Hosea 514 15 I heard the story of a nanny who was having a raging battle with one of the young children in her care, a boy of about four years of age. The little guy was fussing and whining and throwing an absolute fit. The boys mother finally had enough of the commotion and demanded to know what was going on. The nanny explained that the child wanted something she would not let him have. The mother, tired of the boys temper tantrum, told the nanny, well, let him have whatever he wants so he will stop. The nanny tried to protest, but the mother would have none of it. Ok, said the nanny. The child grew silent and all seemed well. That is, until the child let out a blood curdling scream. The mother rushed back into the room again to see what on earth had happened. The nanny explained he wanted to play with a bee in the window and threw a fit. When I said no, it will hurt you, but having your permission, he played with the bee anyway and he got stung. This is what God did when he went away from his people. Paul put it this way in romans 124, God gave them over to the sinful desires of their hearts. God let them have their own way and made them bear the consequences for their choice. Although he created them, he allowed them to have free will and to live by their own rules. While ignoring him and his warnings, God did not actually abandon them. They abandoned him and they got stung by their own self centered stupidity. Must God do this again? How much time will be lost and how many souls will be lost before we wake up and realize that we are separated from God and bring misery upon ourselves because of our own stubborn want to live the way we want to live and do the things we want to do. Sin. Now I know that you can't do anything about anyone else, but you can certainly do something about yourself. So let's admit our guilt, repent of our sin, and seek God's face again.

This has been your thought for the day with Steve Burkham, pastor of Community Christian Church in Stockton, California. If you have questions or comments for Pastor Steve, please send them to dailythoughtspodcastmail.com. Have a great day and we hope you'll join us tomorrow as pastor Steve opens God's word to bring us another thought for the day.