If God can mourn as His judgment falls on the wicked Moabites, then I must learn to care just as deeply for those around me. Today I choose to let my heart rejoice, celebrate, mourn, grieve, and ‘feel’ for those around me–instead of reducing my interactions to mere processes and tasks.
=================================
Scripture
Jeremiah 48:30-31
30 I know his insolence, declares the LORD; his boasts are false, his deeds are false. 31 Therefore I wail for Moab; I cry out for all Moab; for the men of Kir-hareseth I mourn.
Observation
The prophet Jeremiah is recording God’s words of judgment toward Moab, because of their wickedness. God’s judgment and wrath was about to fall on them…yet God says that He was ‘crying and mourning’ for them. His righteousness demanded that there be a correction and consequence for their wickedness…but His love still mourned for them as people that He had created in His own image.
Application
When we talk about righteousness, holiness, wickedness, and judgment…it’s easy to just stop when we get to judgment. Wickedness is wickedness, judgment is judgment…end of story. But that’s not how God sees it! Yes, there are times when His righteousness requires a correction of those who have turned away from him…but He mourns for those He must judge.
In my interaction with those around me, it can be easy to get very task-oriented and process-oriented. “If you do ‘x’, then I’ll have to do ‘y’.” When I let myself become focused merely on tasks and processes, I start to become hard-hearted toward those that that I’m dealing with. I become just a little bit less loving, a little bit less caring, a little bit less merciful. There are some lines that must be drawn, and some boundaries that must be enforced: but if God can mourn as His judgment falls on the wicked Moabites, then I must learn to care just as deeply for those around me.
Today I choose to let my heart rejoice, celebrate, mourn, grieve, and ‘feel’ for those around me–instead of reducing my interactions to mere processes and tasks.
Prayer
God, help me to love the way that you love! Help me to care about people: Not merely when they do what they should…but even when they turn away from you and when they let me down. Thank you for loving me, even when I’ve turned away from you!
Interested in getting daily devotions delivered straight to your inbox? Subscribe HERE!
You can also read past devotions on our website, by visiting https://www.newhopelegacy.com/soap/
