Tuesday, 22 September 2026

How the gold has lost its luster, the fine gold become dull! The sacred gems are scattered at every street corner. – Lamentations 4:1

Today's Scripture Reading (September 22, 2026): Lamentations 4

We all place something at the center of our lives. It is just something that we do. I don't know what it might be in your life. Often it is our job, but family also runs hard after the coveted position. There are other things; money, friends, entertainment, and even the church compete for that central position. At some point, we decide which thing we will place at the center of our lives. Usually it isn't a mental decision – we don't sit down with a pad and paper and weigh the pros and the cons of placing different things at the center of our lives, but our actions reveal the decision. Our lives follow the dictates of whatever it is that we have placed in that central position of our being.

Whatever we place at the center often comes a time when we realize it isn't as attractive as it once was. We begin to question whether we have placed the right things at the center. Our behavior changes as we place something else in that center position.

Things lose their luster when we place them at the center of our lives because they were never intended to be there. God was. (Note: I said God, not the church.) He has built that central place in our lives as his home, and nothing else can measure up to him.

Jeremiah sees a defeated nation that he is actively mourning over. The prophet knows that they have placed the wrong things at the center of their lives. The sad thing is that we rarely choose to put the wrong things at the center of our lives. We just don't place God there, so other things take that position because it is empty.

The only way that God can fill that spot is if we decide to place him there. There is nothing automatic about it. We have to choose God. He won't slip into that spot in our lives just because it is empty. He is waiting for an invitation to take the place designed for him. Have you made your decision?

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Lamentations 5

No comments:

Post a Comment