Lamentations 1:1-2:6
It’s a little melodramatic - the Lord hasn’t acted without pity towards Judah, he hasn’t cut off every horn of Israel, his flaming fire hasn’t consumed everything around it. There is still some hope; there is still a remnant. But this book is a good reminder of the awfulness of being cut off from God. It wails about the loneliness and the anguish of being thrust from his presence due to sin and rebellion. These words are worth remembering. Or rather the tone of these words are worth remembering. This forlorn sense of bitterness is the fruit of turning away from God. These are the wages of sin - death in life, just waiting for the grim reaper to come and make final the withering and decaying of the soul and flesh. There is no life away from God. There is no joy away from him. Not really. Not after the fires of the idol feasts have faded and the consequences have kicked in. These words are worth remembering - they will help steer us closer to God.
Titus 3:1-15
Again we hear it - we were saved so that we would devote ourselves to doing what is good. The ship has sailed, the coach has departed, the train has left the station - the goal and purpose of the Christian faith was defined long ago. When we come to faith we buy into a movement whose purpose is set, we agree to be taken in a certain direction. We devote ourselves to doing what is good. If we want to debate that then Paul will listen twice but on the third time he will just throw us overboard. There comes a time when we just need to submit, we just need to yield ourselves to God’s purpose for Christianity. So I ask myself whether I actually do good? What does that mean anyway? Is getting our kids into the best school part of doing good? Is earning enough money to keep our family comfortable? What about being a good employee at work? Is it getting involved in lots of things at church? Is it reading my bible? Well, Paul says at the start of this chapter that doing good is to slander no-one, it is to be peaceable and considerate and to show true humility towards all men. Doing good is played out in relationships more than in activities. Doing good is more about what attitude I have to people rather than what I do for them. I can earn enough money to keep my family comfortable and yet I can ignore them or be harsh towards them. I can do loads of things at church and yet slag others off or think that I’m better than them. Doing good I think ultimately comes down to seeing the image of God in people and choosing to actively respect them for it by looking to their interests, by interrupting my preoccupation with myself to attend to them. But I don’t have to do this on my own. The Holy Spirit who has been poured out so generously upon me renews me and enables me to do it. What a great relief that is.
Psalm 119:113-120
“I hate double-minded men”. He needs to read Titus.
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