Corona Devo 46
If I am not careful, I'm falling into a Corona complacency. Getting used to the slow-motion days and getting lazy in my pursuit of Christ during them. He is as real and present during the Corona quarantine as He has ever been (and will be!) but I (we!) have to stay focused and vigilant in seeking Him (time with Him, lessons from Him) and serving Him.
Like an athlete that misses practices and begins to get out of shape and feels his muscles flabbing, we can fall out of spiritual shape if we are not serious about staying in God's word. But mercifully and not judgmentally, the Lord calls us back to Himself.
“Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” 13 Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. ~Joel 2:12-13
I truly love the discipline of God's word and also the way that He wraps His teachings up in grace and love. (I want to be more like that as a mom and wife.) He knows us, He knows the wanderings of our hearts and minds. He sees our complacency and He knows why. But He calls us back to Him. “Return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” (~Joel 2:12)
Phew! The Lord doesn't play around--“return to me with all your heart". Not 'part of' your heart', or 'most of it', or 'when things are going well'. He wants all of our heart, all of the time.
The next verse convicts me completely, and reminds me that God knows the human heart. He knows my heart. He knows that our tendencies are toward our outward appearance (what the world sees), rather than actually making efforts to change our ways on the inside. Rend your heart and not your garments. (~Joel 2:13)
I like this verse, and I have studied it and applied it to my life before, but in researching it today, I realized that I had been interpreting "rend" incorrectly before. I used to think that "rend" meant the same thing as mend (i.e.--we should fix/mend our hearts instead of fixing/worrying about our garments/clothes/outer appearance.) But apparently "rend" means to tear (the hair or clothing) as a sign of anger, grief, or despair.
Yikes! Previously, I thought I was learning something when I interpreted "rend" as "trying to fix" my inner convictions and spirit. But (again) Yikes! Now that I actually looked up the meaning, God's actual definition is much more serious. And I am brought back to my guilt in feeling complacent. We are too complacent in our pursuit of the Lord and His will for our lives. God calls us to be all in for Him, and also to (seriously) recognize His holiness and huge call on our lives.
In the old days, people tore their clothing as a sign of despair, and here God says--don't tear your clothes as a symbol, instead tear your hearts--let your hearts be affected and changed for Me!
And when we do, the Lord welcomes us in this, loves us, and keeps us safe: Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. ~Joel 2:13
He knows that the internal changes can tear our hearts. It is hard to put others first and tear away from our self-serving tendencies. It is hard to tear ourselves away from what we want and focus on God's purposes and others needs.
But God is patient and gracious with us, and brings us along. He is compassionate on our situations and He understands and loves us. He is slow to anger and abounding in love. Oh, that I would be also!
And don't miss His last word--he relents from sending calamity. (Joel 2:13). We seem to have had enough calamity all ready, so I am grateful to hear this!
Let's move forward today by returning to the Lord.
Blessings,
sarah
Like an athlete that misses practices and begins to get out of shape and feels his muscles flabbing, we can fall out of spiritual shape if we are not serious about staying in God's word. But mercifully and not judgmentally, the Lord calls us back to Himself.
“Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” 13 Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. ~Joel 2:12-13
I truly love the discipline of God's word and also the way that He wraps His teachings up in grace and love. (I want to be more like that as a mom and wife.) He knows us, He knows the wanderings of our hearts and minds. He sees our complacency and He knows why. But He calls us back to Him. “Return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” (~Joel 2:12)
Phew! The Lord doesn't play around--“return to me with all your heart". Not 'part of' your heart', or 'most of it', or 'when things are going well'. He wants all of our heart, all of the time.
The next verse convicts me completely, and reminds me that God knows the human heart. He knows my heart. He knows that our tendencies are toward our outward appearance (what the world sees), rather than actually making efforts to change our ways on the inside. Rend your heart and not your garments. (~Joel 2:13)
I like this verse, and I have studied it and applied it to my life before, but in researching it today, I realized that I had been interpreting "rend" incorrectly before. I used to think that "rend" meant the same thing as mend (i.e.--we should fix/mend our hearts instead of fixing/worrying about our garments/clothes/outer appearance.) But apparently "rend" means to tear (the hair or clothing) as a sign of anger, grief, or despair.
Yikes! Previously, I thought I was learning something when I interpreted "rend" as "trying to fix" my inner convictions and spirit. But (again) Yikes! Now that I actually looked up the meaning, God's actual definition is much more serious. And I am brought back to my guilt in feeling complacent. We are too complacent in our pursuit of the Lord and His will for our lives. God calls us to be all in for Him, and also to (seriously) recognize His holiness and huge call on our lives.
In the old days, people tore their clothing as a sign of despair, and here God says--don't tear your clothes as a symbol, instead tear your hearts--let your hearts be affected and changed for Me!
And when we do, the Lord welcomes us in this, loves us, and keeps us safe: Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. ~Joel 2:13
He knows that the internal changes can tear our hearts. It is hard to put others first and tear away from our self-serving tendencies. It is hard to tear ourselves away from what we want and focus on God's purposes and others needs.
But God is patient and gracious with us, and brings us along. He is compassionate on our situations and He understands and loves us. He is slow to anger and abounding in love. Oh, that I would be also!
And don't miss His last word--he relents from sending calamity. (Joel 2:13). We seem to have had enough calamity all ready, so I am grateful to hear this!
Let's move forward today by returning to the Lord.
Blessings,
sarah
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