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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Concerning Damascus:
“Hamath and Arpad are dismayed, for they
have heard bad news. They are disheartened, troubled like the restless sea. Damascus
has become feeble, she has turned to flee and panic has gripped her; anguish
and pain have seized her, pain like that of a woman in labor.”
“Why has the city of renown not been
abandoned, the town in which I delight? Surely, her young men will fall in the
streets; all her soldiers will be silenced in that day,” declares the Lord
Almighty. “I will set fire to the walls of Damascus; it will consume the
fortresses of Ben-Hadad.”
Jeremiah 49:23-27
This ends today’s reading
from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
When my father was alive, there would be times when I would
get busy and fail to call him as regularly as I wanted to. Once I would stop
and get on the phone, apologizing to him for not calling sooner, he would
always tell me his philosophy which basically boiled down to this:
If he didn’t hear from his kids, then it must mean that
everything is OK.
In other words, no news is good news.
Now that I have become a parent, I have experienced Dad’s
wisdom first hand. My two daughters are well into adulthood now and they have
their own lives they are living. There are times when I don’t hear from them
for long stints and when I start to get a little anxious about whether they are
doing OK, I hearken back to the words of my father and find peace believing no
news is good news.
I say this because the age of digital media has spawned a
new way to communicate. What once was just private personal business kept
within family or a close network of friends or co-workers has drastically
expanded now as one Facebook post or Twitter tweet can literally reach hundreds
if not thousands of people. And it seems everyone shares everything these days,
so much so that I can almost monitor how my daughters are doing by just keeping
track of their Facebook pages. If something is wrong, they’ll be talking about
it on social media and I end up in the loop that way.
Well, as we look at our scripture passage today, we find the
Lord speaking to the not only the city of Damascus but other cities as well and,
as we will see through His words, it’s bad news. Look again at the passage
here:
Concerning
Damascus:
“Hamath
and Arpad are dismayed, for they have heard bad news. They are disheartened, troubled
like the restless sea. Damascus has become feeble, she has turned to flee and
panic has gripped her; anguish and pain have seized her, pain like that of a
woman in labor.”
“Why
has the city of renown not been abandoned, the town in which I delight? Surely,
her young men will fall in the streets; all her soldiers will be silenced in
that day,” declares the Lord Almighty. “I will set fire to the walls of
Damascus; it will consume the fortresses of Ben-Hadad.” Jeremiah 49:23-27
The first thing we need to note here is that God is speaking
to more than just the city of Damascus, which was the capital of Aram (modern
day Syria). Also addressed by the Lord are the cities of Arpad and Hamath, the capital
of one of the kingdoms of Upper Aram. All of the people in these cities, cities
that once were famous and renowned, were in a state of disarray and dismay,
disheartened and troubled as they found themselves receiving news of God’s
coming judgment.
After all, consider how you feel when you receive bad news.
It can take us from the highest highs to the lowest of lows and if we’re
already down, then it can drag us down deeper. Such is the nature of news that
is negative in nature.
In the end translation as we read the word of God, the once
powerful city of Damascus was going to fall and end up abandoned. Anguish and
pain were going to be pervasive throughout the city and countryside of Aram as
the Assyrian forces were coming to dominate and destroy, silencing the Aramean
soldiers and young men. Even the mighty fortresses of Ben-Haddad, the king of
Damascus, were going to be consumed by fire.
Not good news that’s for sure but now consider it didn’t
have to be that way. If the people of Aram had been faithful to the one true God
instead of worshiping a multitude of pagan gods then they would have been in
good standing with the Lord, living in His favor instead of having to
experience His wrath. In place of destruction, the Arameans could have received
blessing upon blessing instead. They could have been God’s allies instead of
His enemies, something that would have been categorized and considered to be
good news.
Today, we have a choice as well. We can choose to oppose God,
reject Jesus His Son, and live in the very sin He despises while writing a life
story underscored by wickedness or we can choose to live in obedience to God,
receiving His Son Jesus as our Savior while committing our lives to His word,
will, and way, all actions that will lead us to living lives of righteousness,
lives that are pleasing in His sight.
What we opt to do will dictate whether our lives become good
news or bad news stories.
For rejecting God and Jesus will only result in judgment,
the kind of judgment that destroys, the kind of judgment that comes from being
cast into a lake of fire and vanquished forever. It’s the ultimate bad news.
Conversely, you can choose obedience to God, submitting to
His desires for your life by accepting His Son, Jesus, as Savior and then
committing your life to be modeled after His. This willing decision to be
Christ-like, the essence of what it means to be Christian, will allow you to
reap the blessings and joys that come with knowing you have an eternal hope
that can never be taken away and the assurance that life will not end for you
at death after this worldly existence but continue on forever, free from sin
and hurt and affliction and pain and hardship. Everything that ails us in this
life will give way to infinitesimal peace, love, and light as we live with God
the Father and Jesus forever.
Friends, this is the ultimate good news and I pray you can
rejoice and be glad in it as I am as I finish this devotion.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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