Jeremiah 48:1-49:6
Hmm. There is not much greeting card material here. I just can’t imagine the local Christian bookshop doing a roaring trade in cards bearing the verse “a curse on him who is lax in doing the Lord’s work”. Or what about “I will bring terror on you from all those around you declares the Lord Almighty”? It’s not a common theme for the palm-cross and pictures of doves brigade. And yet it is the word of the Lord. The word of God is not just here to comfort us but also to challenge us. The bible is not intended to just be a reassuring document; the literary equivalent or a rub on the shoulders. It’s purpose is far higher than that. The bible is an expose on God; it is a hymn of praise to Him. Reading the bible is a continual exercise of having our faces lifted out of the slurried-puddle of sin and self-obsession, wiped down and turned to gaze on the awesome who who deserves all honour and glory and praise for ever and ever. Sometimes that realisation - the awakening to the fact that we have been squandering ourselves on a destructive sham - can feel a little bitter. But that doesn’t make it bad. God issues these rebukes to us and he weeps as Jazer weeps - his heart laments like a flute. He doesn’t enjoy our pain but he will not flinch from walking us through it to a place of purity and hope and fortune. That is the character of our God. Vey great is he.
2 Timothy 1:1-18
We are called to life (v1). Sometimes the enormity and beauty of that is lost on me. Amid the obligations and desires and confessions and consecrations I sometimes lose sight of the fact that this whole thing is about us living. It is about us playing out in our breakfasts and afternoon meetings and brushing-teeth-before-bed the grace, mercy and peace that we have received from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. That is an exhilarating thought. That is a heck of a promise. We have been saved by Jesus so that we can live the life that is real life. It is a life soaked in the flavour of immortality. It is a life of in-your-face power and love and self-discipline; of the gifts of God being fanned into flame and issued forth. It is a life of suffering for the gospel and finding that that is a deeply joyful place. It is a life of being deserted by many but being wonderfully refreshed by some. It is a life of guarding the great deposit that has been put in us. It is life to the full. It is the life of eternity. It is the life of the Kingdom of God lived out in glorious liberation and satisfaction and generosity. We are called to life. It’s a call I want to hear.
Psalm 119:81-88
This bloke really loved the bible.
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