Friday, March 23, 2018
While
Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the Lord gave
him this second message: “This is what
the Lord says—the Lord who made the earth, who formed and
established it, whose name is the Lord: Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do
not know about things to come. For this
is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: You have torn down the houses of this city and
even the king’s palace to get materials to strengthen the walls against the
siege ramps and swords of the enemy. You
expect to fight the Babylonians, but the men of this city are already as
good as dead, for I have determined to destroy them in my terrible anger. I have abandoned them because of all their
wickedness. “Nevertheless, the time will
come when I will heal Jerusalem’s wounds and give it prosperity and true peace. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and
Israel and rebuild their towns. I will
cleanse them of their sins against me and forgive all their sins of rebellion. Then this city will bring me joy, glory, and
honor before all the nations of the earth! The people of the world will see all the good
I do for my people, and they will tremble with awe at the peace and prosperity
I provide for them. Jeremiah 33:1-9(NLT)
It’s always a
danger to take a single verse out of the context in which it is set, and
proceed to build a life’s philosophy – or worse, a theology of God’s character –
on that single, isolated verse. You can,
for instance, take John 3:16 and assume that all there is to the Christian life
is belief – just acknowledge God loves you, and that’s all God requires. And in one sense you’d be right; you went
forward in church, responding to the invitation of the preacher at the end of
the sermon…or at a Billy Graham crusade.
On the strength of God’s promise you were saved. But now what?
Did walking the aisle conclude your responsibility to God? Of course not…there’s much, much more ahead.
So, think clearly,
and a little more thoroughly here about Jeremiah 33:3, where God says call
unto me and I will show you great and mighty things you didn’t know. So many people quote that as if it is their
life’s theme…to rub the magic bottle of God’s promises and suddenly all the
universe stops for them as God unfolds mysteries and pours out Cadillacs and
stock dividends from above. It’s the
ultimate God as vending machine concept – prosperity theology on
steroids!
How does that hold
up when you read the rest of the chapter?
That single verse is more a challenge to peel back the bandaid you’ve
used to cover up the tumorous cancer in your body, and take an accurate look at
how much trouble you’re really in. That
one verse isn’t a panacea against trouble, whether it be financial, family,
fatalities, friends, or forecasts…it was an announcement to Jerusalem that because
of the peoples’ wickedness, no matter what they chose to do, the judgment of
God was about to fall. This was a wake-up
call, not a magic, get-out-of-jail-free card!
Such is the whole
temperature and purpose of Lent; we dwell in a fallen world, and judgment is
all around us. The religious-minded
among us who want to make sure they’ve covered every angle might hunt for a few
verses that sound good if isolated from their context, so we can quote Bible
and have the peace we crave. But it is
like whistling in the dark – doesn’t change anything in heaven, or the outcome
of God’s will on earth.
Lent is our
reminder that we are part of our fallen world, and there is the blackness of
sin to face like an indellible stain.
Lent is also our reminder that, like Lady MacBeth, we cannot get that
stain off our record. Lady Mac had
manipulated her husband into killing the King of Scotland, and, tortured, she now
sleepwalks the castle feverishly rubbing her hands to get the blood off – out,
damned spot, she cries…and the blood remains…as does our
guilt.
But Lent is also
our reminder that forgiveness is ever in abundant supply in the heart of
God. For those who practice the hard
work of repentance, restoration is God’s loving response. The lenten walk is not without its’ menacing,
brutal, reality of the darkness of humanity’s love of sin; neither is it devoid
of the promise of light!
For You Today
If you want to
walk in the light you must know enough to turn from the darkness.
You chew on
that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day. 
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