MORNING MEDITATION

“Let Us Return To The Lord!”

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“Let Us Return To The Lord!”
The prophets of God spoke to the people of Judah saying, “Turn now, each one of you, from your evil ways and your evil practices, and you can stay in the land the Lord gave to you and your fathers for ever and ever…” They did not listen to the Lord. Due to their hardness of heart God said, “…I will send my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon…against this land…This country will become a desolate wasteland and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years”(Jer.25:1-14).
And it came to pass that in 586 BC, Nebuzaradan, an official of king Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem. He burned the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses. The Babylonian army broke down the walls around Jerusalem.
Nebuzaradan “carried into exile the people who remained in the city, along with the rest of the populace and those who had gone over to the king of Babylon. But the commander left behind some of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields”(II Kgs 25:8-12).
There is a corresponding emerging pattern in any war torn context. The setting may not be the same, but the pattern corresponds. As we see in the text, those in exile are of two categories:
1.The people who remained in the city who were carried away by the commander. These ones are the equivalent to the elites who are taken away one by one; some never to return, some whose whereabouts are unknown, and the incacerated.

  1. The second category are those who had gone over to the king of Babylon.
    Another common feature concerns those who are left behind: “some of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields.”
    The truth of it all is that the barrel of the gun will not solve our woes, because the gun has never truly solved any problem anywhere. Rather, the gun is just another way by which the Lord punishes. The Lord says, “I will send the sword, famine and plague against them until they are destroyed from the land I gave to them and their fathers”(Jer.24:10).
    My friend, the only panacea to our woes is: “Turn now, each one of you, from your evil ways and your evil practices…” To turn away from our evil ways and evil practices is to turn to Jesus Christ with an unwavering pledge to obedience in thought, word and deed. It doesn’t matter how much we have gone astray, the compassionate Lord is waiting with outstretched arms to embrace us with love.
    Prayer: Lord we confess that we have sinned against you. Do not leave us in the hands of our enemies. Amen!
    Have a blessed day! Peace be with you!
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