#DailyDevotion God Is Always Calling Us To Repentance And Faith In Jesus
November 9th
Read Jer 22:1–23
Jer 22:1-9 Thus says the LORD: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, (2) and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. (3) Thus says the LORD: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. (4) For if you will indeed obey this word, then there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people. (5) But if you will not obey these words, I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation. (6) For thus says the LORD concerning the house of the king of Judah: “‘You are like Gilead to me, like the summit of Lebanon, yet surely I will make you a desert, an uninhabited city. (7) I will prepare destroyers against you, each with his weapons, and they shall cut down your choicest cedars and cast them into the fire. (8) “‘And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, “Why has the LORD dealt thus with this great city?” (9) And they will answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and worshiped other gods and served them.”‘”
People always act like the Lord God hasn’t given them or anyone else a chance. I’m sure Jehoiakim and Jihoiakin as they were utterly humiliated before their enemies were asking themselves, “Why me”? Yet they and the Jews were warned time after time to repent and had promises of blessings if they did. They ignored the warnings. They fell disastrously.
We ignore God’s constant warnings as well. We think bad things happen because well bad things just happen. Well sometimes that is true. Many times and really at all times the Lord is calling us to repentance. He calls us to turn away from those things which we trust which are not God to put our faith in Jesus.
Even if we to the best of our knowledge are trusting God and bad things happen to us we are called to repentance. It may just be in a very simple way confessing our sinfulness and trusting in Christ for our standing before God. Sometimes this may what we like to call a theology of the cross. Jesus has called us to bear our crosses. We will suffer innocently even as he has. What we are experiencing isn’t good. But God is testing us to see if we are faithful. If we remain faithful despite the hardships, if we will continue trusting God like faithful Job, a crown of righteousness will be ours for all eternity.
Jesus, himself, is a son of David. Unlike his infamous ancestors, Jesus trust his Father in heaven with all his heart, soul, mind and strength. We are turned to Jesus’ obedience not only as example but as the one who is our righteousness before the Lord. He offers it freely to you so you may be his own in his kingdom and so you may possess him.
Lord Jesus Christ, let us not turn aside the calls for repentance, but may our hearts turn from sin and every evil and look to you alone for all good things. Amen.