Wednesday Reflections – March 3, 2021 – Out to Get You
Click here to watch my video reflection on our text for today, or keep reading for my written reflections:
Today as one of our readings, we look at Jeremiah 3: 11-18:
11 Then the Lord said to me: Faithless Israel has shown herself less guilty than false Judah. 12 Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say:
Return, faithless Israel,
says the Lord.
I will not look on you in anger,
for I am merciful,
says the Lord;
I will not be angry forever.
13 Only acknowledge your guilt,
that you have rebelled against the Lord your God,
and scattered your favors among strangers under every green tree,
and have not obeyed my voice,
says the Lord.
14
Return, O faithless children,
says the Lord,
for I am your master;
I will take you, one from a city and two from a family,
and I will bring you to Zion.
15 I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. 16 And when you have multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says the Lord, they shall no longer say, “The ark of the covenant of the Lord.” It shall not come to mind, or be remembered, or missed; nor shall another one be made. 17 At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall no longer stubbornly follow their own evil will. 18 In those days the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land of the north to the land that I gave your ancestors for a heritage.
Today within our readings, I was really drawn to this passage in Jeremiah. It’s a wonderful passage that shows a lot of what the journey of faith looks like. We see God speak through the prophet, return me, from your sins, from your wandering, from your faithlessness. Return to me. And I will restore you.
Today, as I was reading this text, I kept thinking about the phrase God is out to get you. And I thought you know what, that’s right. He is out to get me and to get you. But here’s the deal. He’s not out to get us for the reason that we believed that He may be. He’s not out to “get us.” He’s out to get us because He longs to restore us. He longes to forgive us. He longs to make us whole.
God is pursuing us this morning because He loves us.
He longs to forgive. He longs to restore. He longs to give grace, to give mercy, to give us His great love.
He longs for us to offer repentance for our sin, for our failings, and for our faults, and He longs to forgive when we ask.
We have made mistakes, yes. We have messed up, yes. We have fallen, yes. And God is out to get us. He is out to get us, to heal, restore, and forgive.
Today, don’t hide from Him. Don’t run from Him. Let us His grace find you and restore you. Today, let Him bring you the mercy and forgiveness that your soul needs.
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