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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 Moab:
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God
of Israel, says:
“Woe to Nebo, for it will be ruined. Kiriathaim
will be disgraced and captured; the stronghold will be disgraced and shattered.
Moab will be praised no more; in Heshbon, people will plot her downfall: ‘Come,
let us put an end to that nation.’ You, the people of Madmen, will also be
silenced; the sword will pursue you. Cries of anguish arise from Horonaim, cries
of great havoc and destruction.”
“Moab will be broken; her little ones
will cry out. They go up the hill to Luhith, weeping bitterly as they go;
on the road down to Horonaim anguished cries over the destruction are heard. Flee! Run for your lives; become like a bush in the desert.”
on the road down to Horonaim anguished cries over the destruction are heard. Flee! Run for your lives; become like a bush in the desert.”
“Since you trust in your deeds and riches, you too will be taken captive, and Chemosh will go into exile, together with his priests and officials. The destroyer will come against every town, and not a town will escape. The valley will be ruined and the plateau destroyed, because the Lord has spoken. Put salt on Moab, for she will be laid waste; her towns will become desolate, with no one to live in them.”
Jeremiah 48:1-9
This ends today’s reading
from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
In today’s devotion, the Lord is asking us one very
important question through His word in the opening verses of Jeremiah 48:
Where do you place your trust?
It’s a question applicable to all of us as we live this
thing called life because we all will need to place our trust in something or
someone sooner or later (and it’s usually more sooner than later).
So where do you place your trust?
Do you place it in yourself, thinking that you can work your
way through anything that life brings your way?
Do you place your trust in another person, maybe a parent or
a spouse or a co-worker or a friend?
Do you place your trust in something inanimate, something
like money or a job or maybe games of chance with the belief that you’ll
perhaps get rich quick?
One thing’s for sure. The world provides plenty of things
for us to place our trust in, plenty of things that will deflect our trust away
from where it really should be invested.
Perhaps, United States currency gets it most right in the
slogan it carries: “In God We Trust”. For unless our full trust is in Him, then
our trust is misplaced and we see a perfect example in the people of Moab, the
focus of God’s message for today. Look again at His words here:
Concerning
Moab:
This
is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
“Woe
to Nebo, for it will be ruined. Kiriathaim will be disgraced and captured; the
stronghold will be disgraced and shattered. Moab will be praised no more; in
Heshbon, people will plot her downfall: ‘Come, let us put an end to that
nation.’ You, the people of Madmen, will also be silenced; the sword will
pursue you. Cries of anguish arise from Horonaim, cries of great havoc and
destruction.”
“Moab
will be broken; her little ones will cry out. They go up the hill to Luhith, weeping
bitterly as they go; on the road down to Horonaim anguished cries over the
destruction are heard. Flee! Run for your lives; become like a bush in the
desert.”
“Since you trust in your deeds and riches, you too will be taken captive, and Chemosh will go into exile, together with his priests and officials. The destroyer will come against every town, and not a town will escape. The valley will be ruined and the plateau destroyed, because the Lord has spoken. Put salt on Moab, for she will be laid waste; her towns will become desolate, with no one to live in them.” Jeremiah 48:1-9
The nation of Moab was in deep trouble. They had incurred
God’s wrath and judgment upon themselves which would result in destruction,
disgrace, and captivity. No one was going to escape the destroyer which was
Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian forces who would attack and leave everything in
ruin. All the towns would become desolate and empty as there would be no one
left to live in them.
So what led to all this happening?
The Lord tells us the Moabites had misplaced their trust.
They had placed their trust in their works.
They had placed their trust in their wealth.
Worst of all, they had placed their trust in a national
deity they called Chemosh.
Note here that God was nowhere in the picture for the people
of Moab, that is, until He took action to get their attention. They would soon
learn who the true God was and it wasn’t their beloved Chemosh who would
provide them zero benefit as they came under siege by the Babylonians. Their
god was as invisible as the defense they could offer against their assailants
who would not stop their onslaught until Moab was laid to waste.
Are we paying attention to this important message God is
sending?
He will not tolerate His people placing their trust in
anything or anyone outside of Himself.
In the end translation, God is God and there is no one like
Him.
No one has the power to do what He can do.
No one can offer what He can offer.
No one can love, protect, and heal us like He can.
Why in the world would we ever place our trust anywhere
else?
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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