Jeremiah 19:1-21:14
1 Thessalonians 5:4-28
Psalm 82:1-8
Proverbs 25:9-10
Birthdays galore - as we meditate on God's word, perhaps we might remember two celebrants: my sister Cindy, and our brother Chad. God bless them both!
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"Acknowledge those who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you...hold them in the highest regard in love. Live in peace with each other. Warn those who are idle and disruptive...be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances."
Ouch. Where to begin? How often have I, rightly or wrongly, felt slighted and wanted to retaliate? How often have I nursed and nurtured the hurt, dreaming of painful payback? How often have I grown frustrated with those whom I thought did not do their fair share, did not carry their own weight...and how easy was it to let my tongue grow sharp and let loose some cutting remark. How difficult has it been to be patient with the shortcomings I find in others which I am pretty certain others see in me as well. And how impossible is it, when things are going wrong, to give thanks? And when when being rightly admonished, to hold that person in the highest regard, in love.
I don't know if my inability to adhere to these guidelines is a manifestation of my relationship with God. Either way, I know I fall short. Grievously, perpetually. Which is why I am grateful for the blessing that follows - that "God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify us through and through. May our whole spirit, soul and body, be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The One who calls us is faithful, and He will do it." What a reassurance that all this goodness comes to me not by my strength, but by His works.
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