S -
Jeremiah 7:2-8, 17-19 (NIV): ""Stand at the gate of the LORD's house
and there proclaim this message: “‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of
Judah who come through these gates to worship the LORD. This is what the LORD
Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I
will let you live in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words and say,
"This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the
LORD!" If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each
other justly, if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and
do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods
to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave
your forefathers for ever and ever. But look, you are trusting in deceptive
words that are worthless." … Do you not see what they are doing in the
towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women
knead the dough and make cakes of bread for the Queen of Heaven. They pour out
drink offerings to other gods to provoke me to anger. But am I the one they are
provoking? declares the LORD. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their
own shame?"
O -
Twice the Lord repeats his desire for his people to live in the land, to not be
rejected and dispersed … though he has been warning them for a very long
time. The problem was their religious
lives which were an amalgamation of God's words with earth's desire to control,
perform and acquire. The ultimate
issue is not so much about offending God
but harming themselves (this also is stated twice). Keeping/using the words of Scripture and
losing their meaning is the genesis of this trouble then and now. Hearing is to engage doing, not mere
intellectual assent. Loving God is
always verified in how we're treating our neighbors and enemies. Right or true words become self-deceptive
and death producing when they are not lived out loud but merely spoken out
loud. The beauty of living them is not
found in a flawless performance but a blameless expression of trust in the
Living God.
A - I
accept the truth that mercy always triumphs over judgment in the Kingdom which can
never end; that our good is humbly included in God's glory according to his
brilliance, power and grace. Today, I am
to engage the words and the fierce personal loyalty (trust) the Lord offers to
me and asks me to respond to by my living not just my talking. This is not a function of performance but of
relationship; it is not about trying to deserve something but rather living out
the design of loving the Lord back.
P - Lord
who wants us to live and stay near,
Thank you for giving us
yourself in each day you create and sculpt.
Thank you that there is always more grace than sin and a mercy which
will always triumphs over judgment.
Please let me be a living letter from you to all I meet and would you
please cause your life to come into me and to somehow come out of me unto the
blessing of others and the revelation of your great kindness. Lord, I do love you back.
Steve
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