Daily Reading
Daily Thought
The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, “Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, “We are delivered!”–only to go on doing all these abominations?’” (Jeremiah 7:1-2, 9-10). Jeremiah is speaking to Judah; the same may be said to us. “In God We Trust” is engraved on every coin, every piece of paper that bankrolls our rebellion against God laws. I do not know how we get away with it. I do not know that we will.
Judah did not. “Raise a lamentation on the bare heights, for the Lord has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath. I will silence in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, for the land shall become a waste” (Jeremiah 7:29, 34). Thus cries the weeping prophet, Jeremiah. Thus says the Lord. “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (Galatians 6:7).
That is the bad news; here is the good news. God’s judgment is just, yet through judgment comes grace. The word that came to Jeremiah was not the last word, for God has the final Word and “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Our judgment would not be excused, it would be executed on a cross. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1Peter 2:24). God’s Word is true, for Judah, for us, forever. I deserve what I get, and instead Jesus took what was mine, and gave me what is his. I wear his righteousness because he bore my sin. Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound.
Daily Prayer
My Lord and God, I wear Your righteousness because You bore my sin. I am created in Your image, and I can do all things through You because it is from You and You alone that I have the power. In my sin, I diminish Your glory, but in Your Son, Your glory shines anew.
Thank You for this life, and all that is in it. God, whatever riches and pleasures and blessings come my way, may I lay them at Your feet. Your glory is my delight.
Amen