Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading (March
20, 2014): Jeremiah 33
I have to
admit that I am amazed at what we refuse to believe. It does not seem to matter
what the event is – or was – there are always those among us who seem to be
willing to disbelieve. Did we actually make it to the moon (let alone the
current plans for a manned expedition to Mars), or was the whole thing acted
out on a Hollywood sound stage. Some of us refuse to believe that the moon – or
any of the planets - are within our reach. Did the Holocaust happen, or was
Hitler guilty of a few atrocities, but nothing like what he was accused of? In
the case of Hitler, maybe it is not surprising that we still have people that
doubt the crimes against humanity that occurred during the Second World War,
after all, that was one of the problems that we had during the war. We heard of
the atrocities, but they were so bad that we had trouble believing that they
could be true, that we could guilty of such acts – until the moment that the
troops entered the first of the concentration camps. In that moment, no matter
what it is that we believe, the lives of the soldiers that walked into the
camps were forever changed. Ultimately, in order to believe – even in truth –
we have to want to believe.
God speaks
to Jeremiah and gives him what is really a very simple message. Call to me and
I will answer, and I will tell you of great and unsearchable things. But it
only makes sense if we want to hear the answer.
My
granddaughter, a few days ago, met a dog. She was only in contact with the dog
for a couple of minutes, but that was all it took for her to fall in love. But
it made it hard to allow the dog to go to his home while my granddaughter needed
to make her way to her home. And in that moment, there was no truth that she
wanted to hear. All she wanted was the dog. And as I watched her, and tried to
tell her that I loved her and that life would go on even without the dog that
she was in love with, in her I saw myself. I saw my own unwillingness to hear
truth that has been spoken to me, even when the one who loves me more than I
could imagine is the one trying to speak that truth to me.
God is
continually speaking into our lives the truth. But often we can’t hear him. And
it is not that God is not speaking loud enough, we just don’t want to hear the
words. And, while God is answering and speaking of the wonders of his love,
shouting his love to us, we will never hear it – unless we want to hear God’s
message given to us.
Today’s Scripture Reading: Jeremiah
21
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