The reading goes on to warn us of coveting our big houses, partying too much, and disregarding Gods deeds. Don't we do this all the time? Many of us are so concerned with making money, buying new cars, clothes, bigger TV's etc that we forget to thank God for the gifts he gives us. Many of us also just struggle to live day to day, put food on our table or like our homeless man survive another night outside. How do we make God real in our lives today? How do we put him first?
The good thing is that God is always there, encouraging us, sending us subtle messages, filling us with his love so that we can start each day new. How lucky are we that he does not expect us to be perfect, he knows we cannot be. All he wants from us is to keep trying.
Verse 18-19 warns us not to ask God to hurry up. We may not see or understand the grand plan that God has laid before us but it is there and we need to be patient and wait for it. We all have a purpose and it will be revealed to us if we listen and follow Gods direction. I can feel a shift in the thinking of our church lately. We are talking more about outreach and helping others. This is good and where we should be focusing. We are a church afterall put here to fulfill Gods plan for us not our own. I pray that God continues to speak to us and we continue to follow his plan.
"God looked for a crop of justice, for a harvest of righteousness."
ReplyDeleteThe vineyard was not producing fruit.
What in the world is God up to...
"By working justice, God-of-the-Angel-Armies will be a mountain. By working righteousness, Holy God will show what 'holy' is."
...and how can we help?
In this instance, we hear a negative example: "They'll have nothing to do with the work of God, pay no mind to what he is doing."
This weekend, we are doing what matters in spades. Please join us in some way.
I think we need to spend more time on chapters like this. We have lost something when we let the "fire and brimstone" completely leave our worship.
ReplyDeleteWe rush into forgiveness and the Good News -- without spending any time on why we need it. We cannot appreciate the gift we've been given if we do not understand our own need.
It's a strange balance, and I feel that, in my life anyway, I've been leaning too far to the "easy forgiveness/cheap grace" side of the spectrum lately. Odd that I should find that to be the case near the end of Lent...when one would think I'd been leaning too far towards self-deprecation. But so it is. Holy Week should be good for me.