Thursday, August 18, 2022

 

Thursday, August 18, 2022


Psalm 107:1-22

2 Chronicles 30:13-27

Romans 12:9-21


Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “The good LORD pardon all who set their hearts to seek God, the LORD the God of their ancestors, even though not in accordance with the sanctuary's rules of cleanness.” The LORD heard Hezekiah, and healed the people.


I don't think I am being presumptuous if I make the claim that Jesus' most famous parable is The Prodigal Son. This parable is somehow both scandalous and entirely consistent with the God of the Bible. Scandalous, because it portrays God not as some overseer up in heaven waiting for us to break the rules, but as a loving father calling us home. Consistent, because we see this theme across the readings today.


God's priority for us is not so much to behave, but to share in His love. In fact, God's demand for us to behave is because it is in our own best interests; even the commandments serve as a “love letter”.


Hezekiah has brought the nation back to worshipping properly. But we see a beautiful insight into the precious heart of God in the verse highlighted this morning. God's concern is the feast of the Lamb, a party that ended up being extended an extra week. The sanctuary's rules of cleanness is for the priests and Levites to concern themselves with; first and foremost, the people as a whole need to be in a right relationship with God.


Paul paints a picture of what this right relationship looks like. Because God is mighty, wondrous and infinite, for us to be in a right relationship with Him means it will “spill out” into our human relationships too. We don't behave ourselves so that God's rules will be followed, hoping God will then love us; rather, we love God first, and that loving relationship then influences how we behave. Everything on this list Paul has given us, God does in the relationship of the Trinity. It is a tremendous honour that God has made us for the purpose of being involved.



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