“Seek the LORD while
he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake their
way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the LORD, that he
may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” Isaiah 55:6
Dear Friends,
I am sorry to report that I am once again behind in my
reading! I could provide you with some
very good excuses and reasons why this is the case – but I won’t bore you with
those! Just wanted you to know, if you
are behind, you are not alone!!
Join me – in either carving out some time to catch up or
just jump ahead to where we are today and start again! God rejoices when we ask for help in starting
over – in fact, God is an expert at offering grace and second chances!
Which is exactly what we find ourselves reading about in
this month’s reading of the Old Testament prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah. The life of a prophet was not an easy one,
they were chosen by God to proclaim God’s Word – to God’s people. As you read through the prophets (we are
about to embark on several weeks of prophets) you will see a pattern that
repeats itself over and over – it goes something like this:
- God loves the people and makes a covenant to be with them
always.
- The people rebel, turn away from God and sin.
- God sends a prophet to call them to repentance; to turn
from their sin and back to God.
- The people repent.
- God forgives and renews his covenant.
Sound familiar? It is
the same pattern I find myself in not only with my attempts at reading the
Bible through the year but with my daily living. God reaches out to me with love and I am
grateful and eager to follow Jesus. But
then sin gets in the way and I turn away from God and try to do things my own
way. Thankfully, God pursues me and
seeks me out – even in my sin - and invites me back into right relationship. I ask for forgiveness and God forgives me and
we start again.
And I find myself often whispering a prayer of thanksgiving:
“Thank you God for your gift of your mercy and forgiveness.” I am so grateful for the hope we have in
knowing that no matter how far we may stray, no matter how rebellious we may
become – God continues to seek us out, to love us, and to offer us a fresh
start and a new beginning.
Keep on keeping on – God has not given up on us!!! - Rev. Wendy Cordova, Pastor of Evangelism and Lay Ministry
It is clear in Jeremiah that our actions may fool others, but they can never fool God. Judgement came to Judah not simply because their actions were so horrible, but because their hearts were unrepentant. Turning to Him with an humble heart is exactly what we are to do.
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