A PIECE OF MY HEART ... sound the alarm

This past weekend we had storms come thru our area. The winds picked up, the rain was powerful and the sirens went off.

Right when the storm brewed up, I had just pulled into the drive-thru bank. As I was waiting for my deposit slip, the storm really hit and the power at the bank went out. (lol) The guy inside the bank was trying to talk to me thru the window because the intercom did not work without power. He was trying to tell me to go on because they could not open the drawer. The entire time he was trying to communicate with me, I wasn't budging because even though I had handed over my deposit, I did not have a deposit slip in my hand. So while the storms got stronger and the sirens blared, here I was running into the front of the bank to get my money back. I wasn't about to leave without proof that my deposit had been made.

I am reminded of the warnings that sirens give us, but yet so many times we dismiss the warning because we want proof that we are really in danger. Believe me when you hear a tornado siren go off, it is a warning for us to take cover. When a smoke detector goes off, it is alerting us to a fire. When a trumpet was blasted in Old Testament times, it was a warning to the people of Israel.

LEVITICUS 23:24 "On the first day of the appointed month in early autumn, you are to observe a day of complete rest. It will be an official day for holy assembly, a day commemorated with loud blasts of a trumpet."

The people in ancient Israel needed to be awakened from their careless attitudes toward God. God knew the tendency that the people would have to drift away so He set up a yearly holiday called the Festival of Trumpets, which was to blast the people out of their spiritual laziness. The trumpet was to serve as a reminder to the people to examine themselves and recognize God's provision in their lives as well as His grace.

I wonder if a trumpet would sound like that, how many of us would be awakened or if we would be like I was at the bank that day the sirens were going off? Would we be attentive and take the warning seriously or would we be looking for proof that it was really a warning from God?

Lord, help me to have my ear tuned to hear Your sound of alarm when I need to turn from sin. May my heart and my spirit be tuned in to the sound of Your voice and like the Israelites, may I be awakened quickly by Your warnings. -AMEN

and that is a piece of my heart today;