Tuesday, November 15, 2022

 

Tuesday, November 15, 2022


Psalm 37:1-17

Zechariah 9:11-10:5

Revelation 7:9-17


For like the jewels of a crown they shall shine on His land.


What wonderful transformation the Lord Jesus works in us! We, who took His perfect creation and wielded the bow for evil. We, who wish death upon each other with murderous thoughts of anger, who have been given tongues and flash them as if they were forked, who cannot but help lose our patience and somehow have the capacity for anything other than love.


Instead of judgement, we receive mercy. Instead of destruction, we receive resurrection. We should be feasting on the death we so seem to crave by our thoughts and deeds, and yet we are brought into the heavenly feast of life by our Good Shepherd.


Through Zechariah, the Lord proclaims judgement upon those shepherds who would lead us to barren fields and brackish streams. In Revelation, He demonstrates His good intention for the role of shepherd, consistent with the image of the Good Shepherd of Psalm 23. In that famous Psalm, we are promised that goodness and mercy will surely “follow us”. In the original Hebrew, it reads more like that God will chase us down like a pursuing army, only stopping once He has completed His victory by capturing us in His love.


Jesus is that Good Shepherd (John 10:11). We gallop around and stumble into the dangerous rough with our stubby legs and short attention span. He chases us down without resting until we are safe in the good place He has prepared for us. He is not ashamed of us; He displays us proudly for all to see. He does not save us begrudgingly, or with clenched teeth. He did not drag His feet on that walk to Calvary. In searching us out, He has rescued those whom He loves. All He asks is that we love Him in return. And as those whom He loves, there is no gift too great for Him to give us. He raises us up to the highest pinnacle of His creation, the redeemed, the resurrected: the jewel of His crown. This is how highly Jesus thinks of you. This is what God thinks of you.





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