Monday 18 April

Deuteronomy 29:1-30:10

Amid all these warnings and encouragements there is something really very shocking.  Out of nowhere suddenly an unbelievably precious idea is revealed - that a day is coming when parents will no longer circumcise their children’s penises but that God, like a loving Father, will stand over his people and will circumcise their hearts.  On one level it makes no sense at all; where would you even begin to snip?  But on another level it taps into the deepest cravings of humanity - cravings that something stronger and greater than ourselves would come and transform us, making our hearts purer and our walk righteous.  This is the core of our faith - that God is the stronger and greater one and that he has acted like a Father to us, drawing us close and performing a work on us that makes us better than we were.  It’s not that we have moved beyond trying to live well - it’s that we have acknowledged that we could never get there through human effort.  Our knives could not cut deep enough.  But God, in his incredible, incredible mercy has done something to us in our inner being so that we might live to the glory of Him and the benefit of the world.

Luke 18:31-19:10

Seeking and saving the lost is a bit of a funny idea.  In Israel, if you were lost it was most likely because you hadn’t bothered to look at the map.  All the stuff was pretty clearly laid out and God should really have been with the conscientious ones, rewarding them and delighting in their obedience and faithfulness.  You could be forgiven for thinking that the point was Temple sacrifices, Torah observance and liberation of the land, not trudging around peering up at people in trees and stopping to talk to brash and loud misfits.  To say that the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost is to turn the idea of Israel completely on its head.  The Son of Man acts not like Solomon, enthroned in glorious splendour at the centre of his Kingdom, receiving notable guests who are overwhelmed by his greatness.  No, he acts like David, skirting around the edges of the land, liberating villages, driving back the enemies and gathering all sorts into his band of merry men.  The Vineyard has always sought to plunder the kingdom of darkness, to liberate people from oppression and despair but, in truth, we have not seen as much of it as we would have liked.  It’s time for us to get on our horses and start riding on these David-missions.  It is time for us start skirting around.

Proverbs 10:1-10

“The wise in heart accept commands but the chattering fool comes to ruin”.  I bet that was written by a school teacher ;-)