All we, like sheep, have gone astray....

Before we began doing these blogs, I had been reading the book of Jeremiah, partly because I feel it is a book that is particularly relevant to America's desiccating culture, and partly because I never read it before :) It is written at a dark time in Israel's history (hmm, seems to be a prevalant theme, doesn't it?), and revolves around the prophet Jeremiah, who kneels before the kingdoms of Judah and Israel and warns them of the impending destruction from the Babylonians, and after it came to pass, he continued to extoll God's glory in Egypt. In some sense it reminds me of Job, as it feels like it's written from the perspective of a man who is holding onto his last hope in this world, utterly estranged from the very species he belongs to. It is an awesome book so far, and reminds me of I and II Kings in how careful the reader must be to extract the glimmer of hope that God claims to his throne. I read chapters 19-24 last night (I don't have my bible with me, which I write down my notes and have references, so bear with me). Some standout parts include:

19:4-I will do so because these people 11 have rejected me and have defiled 12 this place. They have offered sacrifices in it to other gods which neither they nor their ancestors 13 nor the kings of Judah knew anything about. They have filled it with the blood of innocent children

The last sentence I find particularly chilling when I think about the election results. I know that Obama is hardly pro-life, and am reminded that you can tell everything from a nation by the way it treats its most vulnerable, the children. In the days before I was walking with the Lord, I used to think abortion wasn't such a bad thing, I mean if a woman wasn't prepared to take care of a child, then it's just one less person who would be miserable, right? Wrong, God is sovereign in his judgement, and righteous in his wrath : "“Before I formed you in your mother’s womb 7 I chose you. 8 Before you were born I set you apart.I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5)

20:9 Sometimes I think, “I will make no mention of his message.I will not speak as hismessenger 16 any more.”But then 17 his message becomes like a firelocked up inside of me, burning in my heart and soul. 18 I grow weary of trying to hold it in;I cannot contain it.

Every now and then I run across verses that stop me dead in my tracks, and this is one of them. One thing I struggle with, not to make excuses, is an inferiority complex that often keeps me from opening my mouth when I should be talking (of course it doesn't always work this way when my words are less than choice). I, and bet some of you as well, need to keep in mind that it is not ourselves we are representing, but we are here for God's glory. If we remain faithful to God, he will impress on our hearts a desire to preach his name so strong that it will be far more difficult to say nothing (pertaining to God), then to preach the gospel. I can think of more than a few times when I strongly felt the presence of the Lord to say something, but did nothing about it. There's honestly no blanket big enough to cover up my shame at times like that.

Good night everyone, I think I'll go have dinner and swallow my Christian excuses while I'm at it ;)