The Daily Fountain Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 2 March 2022 – A Call To Repentance
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TOPIC: A Call To Repentance
READ: Jeremiah 8:18 – 9:11 (NKJV)
- I would comfort myself in sorrow; My heart [is] faint in me.
- Listen! The voice, The cry of the daughter of my people From a far country: “[Is] not the LORD in Zion? [Is] not her King in her?” “Why have they provoked Me to anger With their carved images — With foreign idols?”
- “The harvest is past, The summer is ended, And we are not saved!”
- For the hurt of the daughter of my people I am hurt. I am mourning; Astonishment has taken hold of me.
- [Is there] no balm in Gilead, [Is there] no physician there? Why then is there no recovery For the health of the daughter of my people?
- Oh, that my head were waters, And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the daughter of my people!
- Oh, that I had in the wilderness A lodging place for travelers; That I might leave my people, And go from them! For they [are] all adulterers, An assembly of treacherous men.
- “And [like] their bow they have bent their tongues [for] lies. They are not valiant for the truth on the earth. For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know Me,” says the LORD.
- “Everyone take heed to his neighbor, And do not trust any brother; For every brother will utterly supplant, And every neighbor will walk with slanderers.
- Everyone will deceive his neighbor, And will not speak the truth; They have taught their tongue to speak lies; They weary themselves to commit iniquity.
- Your dwelling place [is] in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me,” says the LORD.
- Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: “Behold, I will refine them and try them; For how shall I deal with the daughter of My people?
- Their tongue [is] an arrow shot out; It speaks deceit; [One] speaks peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth, But in his heart he lies in wait.
- Shall I not punish them for these [things?”] says the LORD. “Shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?”
- I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, And for the dwelling places of the wilderness a lamentation, Because they are burned up, So that no one can pass through; Nor can [men] hear the voice of the cattle. Both the birds of the heavens and the beasts have fled; They are gone.
- “I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a den of jackals. I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.”
THE MESSAGE:
Jeremiah sees a vision of Judah in exile (verses 18-19). The fate of the people greatly disturbs him. In amazement, he wonders whether God had abandoned His people and no longer reigned in Zion? God’s answer was simple: He had not abandoned the land of Judah! The problem was that the people had abandoned God.
The usual joy of abundance in seasons of sowing and harvest went away while they were in exile. They neglected the opportunity to repent, now was the time to reap what they had sown. Jeremiah wondered why there was no healing; God’s answer was that they refused to seek the great Physician. In stubbornness of their rebellion, they lost the opportunity to heed God’s plea of repentance. This Lenten season beginning with the Ash Wednesday today, avails us of another opportunity to sincerely repent of our sins, correct our faults, purify our hearts, control our desires, grow in holiness and intercede for the needs of others. We need to, like Jeremiah, intercede for ourselves, Church, nation and our families.
PRAYER: Almighty God, we acknowledge our sinfulness but ask for Your mercy. Look mercifully upon our infirmities and save us from self-destruction in Jesus’ name. Amen.
