Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to
OurChristianWalk@aol.com.
In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
** Follow The Christian Walk on
Twitter @ThChristianWalk
** Like posts and send friend requests
to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn
** Become a Follower of The Christian
Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
“Put on sackcloth, you priests, and mourn; wail, you who minister
before the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you who minister before
my God; for the grain offerings and drink offerings are withheld from the house
of your God. Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and
all who live in the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the
Lord.”
Joel 1:13-14
This ends today’s
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
We’re all going to sin in life, making mistakes that are
going to put us at odds with a God who hates sin. That’s not a great place to
be by any means and only someone who is crazy would want to remain there and
challenge God to take action because here’s a news flash:
God is going to win 100 percent of the time.
No one stands a chance against Him. No one.
So given that we are sinners and we will error in ways that
God opposes, what should we do when we find ourselves in that precarious place?
Our scripture verses from Joel, Chapter 1 provide us the
answers as the prophet instructs the Israelite priests, the spiritual leaders
of God’s people, to take actions that would serve to get them right with God
again, actions they were to pass onto their flock so everyone could get right
with God again. Look again at the prophet’s instruction:
“Put on sackcloth,
you priests, and mourn; wail, you who minister before the altar. Come, spend
the night in sackcloth, you who minister before my God; for the grain offerings
and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God. Declare a holy
fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to
the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.” Joel 1:13-14
How were the priests to respond to the sins that had been
committed, sins which included worshiping false gods and idols in direct
violation of God’s most fundamental command to have no other gods before Him
(Exodus 3-4a)?
They were to show God they were sorry, both inwardly and
outwardly. This sorrow was to be expressed in several ways which included:
1. Expressive, deep mourning.
“Put on sackcloth,
you priests, and mourn.”
“Come, spend the
night in sackcloth, you who minister before my God.”
2. Grieving and sadness.
“Wail, you who minister
before the altar.”
3. Fasting.
“Declare a holy fast.”
4. Summon the elders, hold a sacred assembly, and cry out to
the Lord.
“Call a sacred
assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the
Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.”
In sum, all these steps, if taken, would work together to
show contrition before the Lord and a heartfelt regret for the wrongs that had
been committed. Outwardly, the Israelites would don the sackcloth, symbolic of
mourning, and fast before coming before God as a collective people in a special
sacred assembly to cry out to Him, expressing the inward sadness in their
hearts while they sought His forgiveness, mercy, and grace. All their measures
were taken to get back in good favor with the God who was their Master and
Maker and Judge.
Today, the process remains the same when we have committed
transgressions in God’s sight. We might not don sackcloth today but we can
still turn back to God with repentant hearts and show Him we’re sorry,
inclining our hearts back toward Him as we seek His forgiveness, mercy, and
grace.
It’s always the first necessary step to return to the Father
and get back into the good graces of His favor, whether living in Joel’s day or
here today in the 21st century.
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
No comments:
Post a Comment