Joel 2:1 and 12-13 -
Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all
who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is
coming. It is close at hand—
…"Even now," declares the LORD, "return
to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and
mourning." 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 was told to tell the people to sound
the trumpet…the warning bell that God’s judgment day of gloom and darkness was
approaching quickly. Anyone who had not repented of their sin and begun to walk
in God’s ways would die ….all the things they cherished and held dear gone
forever. He wanted them to feel the fear
of eternal separation from God.
Then he told them of the hope that
repentance could offer the situation.
God is a loving God…he can be persuaded by a humble heart and prayer to
lessen the sentence of death…even turn it into eternal life with him. He called
for the people to stop tearing their garments…an outward show of humility….and
start tearing their hearts. He called for them to fast and pray as ever before...and
show God they really wanted him as an active part of their lives.
It is a reminder to me that repentance
multiplies the feelings of hope that power us through the tough times. No
public prayer…or public gift to the needy…or other outward show of love will
power our heart and life with God’s strength like giving our total being to
God. He wants all of our heart…all of
our mind…and all of our soul…..so he can begin to direct our paths with his
love and hope.
The last part of this chapter contains the
huge blessing earth can receive if we all begin to turn back to God and pray
with all our hearts. Verses 28-29 say…. "And
afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream
dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.”
I could use a fresh dose of God’s Spirit to
keep me focused and going in the right direction. I am only human…and satan tricks me into
messing up more than I get it right. So
I guess I need to get serious about my prayers…and start asking God to expose
any sin I have not noticed in my life.
Only then can I ask God to forgive me and wash it out of my life…so I
begin to see the blessings God has promised in these verses. Then I need to get
serious about sharing what I have learned with others…so that all people can
repent and be saved.
Father…thank you for the reminder that I
need to come to you with my whole heart in humility and ask you to forgive me
of any sin in my life. Forgive me for the times that I have skirted over my
need to ex[pose sin in my life…and let satan trick me into justifying it as
okay. Begin this day to expose all the
hidden sins in my life so that I can be washed clean and acceptable to be used of
you share the truth of your love. Install in me a new dose of your Holy Spirit …so
that I may feel the power and hope that Joel foretold so long ago. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment