Jeremiah 26:6
“Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.”
Throughout the years of my travels as an evangelist, I have had the privilege of going to towns that used to be thriving communities. It is not an uncommon thing for the pastor to drive me through a town and tell me the story as to how the city used to be a center of business. Sadly, while I’m being driven through the city, buildings are vacant and run down; buildings that have great stories of usefulness in history have become tales because the city is a ghost town.
God said that He was going to make Judah “like Shiloh.” Shiloh was the city where the Ark of God rested for many years. It was the center of worship for God’s people. The ungodly conduct of Eli occasioned the ark of God to be taken and the city destroyed; it became a ghost town in Israel. A place that once knew the presence and power of God had become a story of history and a preacher’s illustration. A city where people once came to meet with God and have their lives changed became a place of disregard, a place of ruins. Shiloh became a ghost city all because of the ungodly conduct of the sons of Eli.
What caused this city to become a ghost town? They stopped listening to the prophets of God. Instead of responding to the preaching of the prophets, they hardened their neck and refused to get right. This city became a ghost town because they refused to walk according to God’s law. Their choice to live their own life and not listen to the prophets led to their city becoming a ghost town.
Sadly, many churches that once used to be hotbeds of lives being changed and souls being saved have become ghost towns. The reason: many of these churches chose to stop using the altar. Many of these churches used to be a place where the preaching was hot and the hearts of God’s people were tender towards the LORD. Unfortunately, they stopped soul winning and loosened their holiness standards to look more like the world. Now you can go to these same churches and the only thing you hear about these churches is what God used to do in them.
Moreover, there are many Christians whose lives are a ghost town. The best days of these Christians are in the past. All the stories of God working through their life are in the past. There are many former Bible college students sit in pews living in ghost town Christianity. Their best days of serving the LORD were when they were in Bible college. All they have to talk about is what God used to do through them. Ghost town Christianity has become the dwelling of many Christians.
My friend, when you choose to stop responding to preaching, you are choosing to make your life a spiritual ghost town. When you choose to stop obeying the Word of God and live like the world, you are choosing to take God’s blessings from your life. You can give your excuses and blame the hardness of a man’s leadership style, but it all comes down to your choice to sit in a pew and do nothing, and never respond to the LORD’s voice through the preaching.
Ghost town Christianity is not where you want to live. Your greatest fear should be to talk about what the LORD used to do through your life instead of talking about what He is presently doing through your life. The way to avoid this is to respond when God speaks and live according to His Word.