Today's Reading:
Jeremiah 26,35,36; John 20
Scripture
“This is what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard of the Lord’s house and speak to all the people of the towns of Judah who come to worship in the house of the Lord. Tell them everything I command you; do not omit a word. Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from their evil ways. Then I will relent and not inflict on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done.” (Jeremiah 26:2-3)
Observation
Read it again. Did you catch it? “Perhaps … they will each turn from their wicked ways; then I will relent and not inflict on them the disaster … because of the evil they have done” (Jer. 26:3).
Can you hear God’s heart? He tips His hand so we will not miss even His intentions toward us! The sins of the people were the pens with which they had written out their futures. Their evil and rejection of God established what would unfold in the days ahead — calamity and misfortune. It was now signed, sealed, and delivered, but not by God’s choice. It was by their very own refusal to repent and return! Their stubbornness caused them to face an uncertain future, barbed with the consequences of their own decisions.
Application
But, we serve a God that can actually rewrite futures! He is the God of time. He is the God of the beginning … and the ending! He can transform lives and He can alter our futures! No matter what has been done thus far, He is the God, not only of the past. He can create a bright future out of a checkered past! However, it will require a certain response, a certain permission that we give Him — and here, God solicits that from His people:
“Perhaps they will listen and each turn from their evil ways.”
In other words, God so wants us to repent so He can alter our futures, brighten our tomorrows and transform what has been altered by the pens of our sins and spoiled by wrong choices …. If we will only return to Him. What a wonderful invitation, one that would be only too foolish to reject!
So here’s the question: What sins am I stubbornly holding onto that may be writing my future into a mournful dirge instead of a jubilant anthem? We still have time to let Jesus rewrite our future! Let’s give Him permission and respond before night falls.
Prayer
Lord, teach me to hear Your every word and obey, so you can continue to clear up, clean up, and re-fashion my future that my sins have altered and mutated. I am realizing that I am not so much punished FOR my sin as much as I am punished BY my sin! I give You permission to be the Composer of my symphony, the conductor of my future.