It’s time to close the book of Jeremiah. Can’t say I’m sad- there is a lot of destruction and death in that book, all because of rebellion and sin. Kings and their people chose to trust anyone but God. Babylon, Egypt, foreign gods.
As a reading for Lent, though, it is a true and necessary message. We see the power, wealth, success, glamor of the world, and it looks so right, so real. We forget it’s just a snow globe constructed around us, filled with trickery and illusion. What is real and true is God, in all his loving kindness.
God sent Jeremiah to the Israelites, and, in his loving mercy, to us as well. It is God’s message of love, of his parent’s heart for us, his children. “How I long to make you my sons…you will call me ‘My Father’ and never turn away.”
But it is also God’s message of lament for our rebellion. For the death and destruction that comes when we choose false power and deceitful promises. Let’s not skip that part as we look toward the hope. That is what Lent is all about. Love and hope, and our repentance of what would separate us from God.
We will be his people, called by his name, covenanters with him.
#prayersformychildren #Lent2020 #JeremiahforLent
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