Monday, August 3, 2009

In The Name Of The Lord

Focus verses: Jeremiah 26:1-24

Strange things happen when one speaks in the name of the Lord. Jeremiah has spoken truthfully all and exactly what God told him to say to the people. But the people didn't want to hear "repent before doom comes upon you." They would rather have ear-tickling words from false prophets.

So the mob (shades of things to come) calls for Jeremiah to be put to death. However, there are people there who speak up for Jeremiah. Jeremiah puts forth no defense except that if they kill him they will be guilty of innocent blood. So Jeremiah is spared.

Speaking in the name of the Lord is not always a good way to win friends. Truth is unbending. It's a binary file. Yes or no. On or off. Truth or lie. There are no shades of gray, no in-betweens.

We live, however, in a society that tends to reject absolutes. And it rejects them absolutely. That is a fallacy in itself. If nothing is absolutely true then it cannot be absolutely true that nothing is absolutely true.

It has been proven that children do better in a structured environment, when certain things are expected of them. It gives them a sense of importance to have a position in the family that is responsible for something. But children are very good at pushing buttons and stretching the boundaries.

That isn't because they want the freedom of no boundaries. They are reassured when the boundaries don't give when they try to stretch them.

We are children, too. We need the boundaries that God has set for us. When we push the boundaries, we generally reap a harvest we'd rather not have had. One cannot sow wild oats and pray for crop failure. It just doesn't happen.

When we speak or act in the name of the Lord, we'd better be very sure that God has set us to this task. Else we are doomed to failure.

Father, God,

Sharpen our ears to be attentive to Your word. Help us to keep within Your boundaries, and strengthen us to do or say what You would have us to.
In Jesus' most precious name.
Amen.

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