Today's readings are Nehemiah 9.1-21 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Neh.+9.1-21 ) and 1 Timothy 5.17-6.2 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=1+Tim.+5.17-6.2 ).
In the time of Nehemiah the people, confronted with God's Law, were driven to repentance. And their repentance was not just a momentary stopping and confessing that they weren't quite as good as they thought. It took a large part of the day, with people crying out to God, recognizing their sin, being filled with sorrow before their Lord. What was the result of this repentance? The people were then ready to confess God's goodness as opposed to their own attempts at goodness.
How often today are we complacent? We hear God's Word and we are not confronted with the brunt of his commands. We hear the Law and think we can keep it. I even saw a church sign last Sunday which said we don't get to heaven by believing but by obedience. Yet the only way I can obey God's Law is if it is misrepresented, watered down, and presented to me in a form which is foreign to the Scripture.
Let us rather receive God's Law in all its force. Let us be moved to repentance and sorrow. Let us see God's goodness in stark contrast to our evil. Let us then gather and receive God's good gifts, especially Jesus Christ the Savior of the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment