Reading for today: Ezekiel 16-17
Original post: September 7, 2014
The description of Israel as an adulterous wife, or a prostitute is as plain and as graphic I have read anywhere in the Bible. I can really hear the frustration of God as He recounts all of the sinful things Jerusalem (and the surrounding communities) have done. Jerusalem is singled out because it is the flagship city. Jerusalem is where the temple is, and where people from all over Israel go to worship. Even today, when you think of Israel, you think of Jerusalem. The most popular picture from Israel is the view of Jerusalem from the East, with the Dome of the Rock in the background.
If you listen closely as God describes the sinful behavior of Jerusalem, you will hear His great love for the city. He recounts his desire to clothe her with fine linens, feed her choice foods and anoint her with rare and beautiful perfumes and jewelry. These things are acts of love.
God loves each of us in the same way that He loves Jerusalem. He longs to adorn us with jewels and cover us with fine clothing. But all too often when things are going well for us, we tend to forget God. Before we become too upset with the Israelite's for their blatant prostitution, we should examine ourselves. Remember that passage that talks about taking the log out of your own eye before trying to remove the speck in your brothers?
What strikes me is that God gave rich and wonderful gifts to Israel, and they squandered them. Some were given to other nations to purchase objects of worship. Some wealth was simply distributed without receiving anything in return....I assume to build allegiences and alliances with other nations. Some of what God gave was used inappropriately right here at home.
I wonder if we as a people can see ourselves anywhere in that description. My prayer for today is that God will convict me of any unsatisfactory way that I am using what He has given me. One of my general "rules of thumb" is that God gives me more than I am to use for myself". In other words, not everything God has given to me is FOR me. I should be watching for ways to distribute some of it to others. A second part of that same prayer should be for God to convict me of any false worship that has entered into my life. Of course I don't pray to idols, but I also don't want to be guilty of
"looking to Egypt for help". As David once said "I lift my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? my help comes from the Lord..." Sometimes we can be guilty of trusting in people, or money or anything really....before we trust in God.
May God's blessing be on you today! ...and happy birthday to my daughter Tiffany!
PR
What I so liked about today readings is the incredible amount of mercy that God shows for His people. They have turned their backs on Him, time and time again. They have acted like an adulterous wife, and left God for another. They are unfaithful, disloyal and downright abusive to God. And yet... And yet He still loves them. Still wants them back. Ezek. 16:60 says – “yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish with you an everlasting covenant.” He creates a way for them, and ultimately for us as well, to come back into a right relationship with Him. The incredible amount of love and mercy God shows us makes my heart want to sing. I am so glad that I have been given the opportunity to love a God who keeps trying and trying, and offers us so many chances to come back to Him. And when we do, how blessed we are. Not that everything goes well, and we don’t still have bad days, but that the peace that goes beyond all understanding fills our lives. I needed to hear that today.
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PK