But regarding Israel, God said, “All day long I opened my arms to them, but they were disobedient and rebellious.” Romans 10:21 (NLT)____________________________________________________
This is one of those "OUCH" verses for those who think of themselves as a "pillar of the church". Israel was God's special, chosen, dearly-loved bunch. Along the way disobedience and rebelliousness became their norm. God's arms were wide open to them and all the world, but stubbornness (read that: human nature) kept God at a distance while Israel did what Israel wanted to do.
I've been that (and don't look so spiritual on me...you have too)!
This was brought home to me in a word picture a couple of decades ago when we lived in Florida. I passed a small farm on the way to the church each day. The owner had built a three-rail fence around a pasture. Lacking an end post on one side, the farmer had attached the three rails to a palm tree. Over time the palm tree had grown, separating the three rails. The living tree flourished while the dead three rails cracked and splintered. The fence became useless! Point - You never attach something living to something dead!
Pillars (of the church) can become dead fence posts (obstructions) in the church, when serving ends and ownership takes its place. God is living and very active; when we begin to hold-on to anything with a kind of death grip "pillars-turned-fence post" are known for, well, let's say, it is always God who wins. It's much better to "let Go...and let God".
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