Brett dressed in baggy pants, a T-shirt,  brightly colored yellow and orange oversized fluorescent plastic glasses, and a backpack.   The air tingled with excitement and tension.  I pulled up to the bank in a van and watched Brett walked through the glass double doors of the bank we had chosen to rob.  I waited with Aspen in our get-away van.  Keeping my eyes glued to the front doors and my ears on high alert for the sound of the robbery alarm I tapped my fingers nervously on the steering wheel.  But, when Brett walked out the glass double doors, all appeared peaceful and the air silent of alarms and police sirens.  Brett casually walked over to the van with the backpack full of money and we drove home.

A few days later Brett donned his bank robbing costume again.   Aspen and I copied his look of  baggy pants, t-shirts,  brightly colored yellow and orange oversized fluorescent plastic glasses, and back packs.  We drove the same van back to the same bank.  This time I parked and the three of us walked through the glass double doors.  We scanned the hall for an elevator to take up to the floor with the bank on it.  Trying to walk quickly and nonchalantly at the same time we hurried past several elevators.  The bank had increased security and hired guards to stand outside the elevator doors.  Nearing the end of the hallway and feeling slightly desperate we found an elevator with no security guard and rode it up to the next floor.  We casually robbed the bank, walked out, and drove home with our backpacks full of money.

Two days passed and we decided to rob the same bank again.  We dressed in our same baggy pants, t-shirts, brightly colored yellow and orange oversized fluorescent plastic glasses, and back packs.  We drove the same van to the same bank, walked in the same glass double doors and looked for an elevator.  Brett and I decided to separate so we would be less noticeable and he took the closest elevator up to the next floor.  But, Aspen and I were unable to find an elevator.  We raced up and down the halls looking for the shiny doors indicating an elevator, but it was as if all the elevators had vanished.

Desperate and out of breath an elevator materialized in front of us and when the shiny doors opened we rode it up to the 3rd floor.  Danger hung in the air around me as Aspen and I stepped off the elevator to find Brett and complete another bank robbery.  I tried to casually walk up and down the narrow halls lined with bank worker desks.  But, I was afraid we would be discovered because we wore the same recognizable disguises.  Fear got the best of me,  I grabbed Aspens hand and began to run in my search for Brett.  I raced up and down the bank halls passing the bank workers sitting at their desks and tapping away at their computers.  Fear advanced to panic  when I couldn’t find Brett.  Running blindly up and down the halls the dreaded bank alarm filled my ears and jarred my brain.  I ran out a side door exit with Aspen in tow.  We raced down the street hoping to evade capture.

While running down the street it crossed my mind that if I were caught I would go to jail for many years and Aspen would go to foster care and be grown up before I got out.  I desperately didn’t want that to happen, and I quickly rationalized that I hadn’t robbed the bank.  I felt better for just a moment until I realized that I may not have robbed the bank that day, but I had helped to rob the bank just two days before and driven the get away vehicle for Brett just a few days before that.

Running down the street with the possibility of facing the consequences of my actions mental clarity finally broke through my clouded brain.  Why do we continue to do the same stupid things over and over and over without thought of the consequences until too late?

Then I woke up.

I am reminded of the story of the Israelites who consistently doubted God’s faithfulness.    God was always faithful, but the Israelites continued to stupidly put their faith in false gods who could do nothing for them.  In the meantime, God continued to be faithful and accept their repentance every time their stupid actions caught up with them.  God is as faithful today as He has been throughout history.  It is time to put aside our false gods and be as faithful to our true God as He is faithful to us.  “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”  1John 1:9

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.”  Lamentations 3:22-24

Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.  Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.  Hebrews 19:22-24