Beginning To Call (Genesis 4:26)

 


Saturday, January 18, 2025


Psalms 41; 44:1-9

Genesis 4:17-5:5; 5:21-24

John 7:25-36


Observance: Confession of Peter


Beginning To Call (Genesis 4:26)


And so begins the great, heavy, swaying lurch of humanity. The man and the woman are made in innocence; the evil one speaks a lie and they fall for it; sin, crouching at the door, leaps and devours; the misery is increased. The lesson is this: we cannot make it on our own. We need the Lord.


It all happens so quickly: the first children fall into tragedy, with one murdering the other and sentenced to banishment as a result. A third is born, Seth, and when his children grow up, humanity truly understands the predicament in which it finds itself. And so they begin to call upon the name of the Lord.


All it takes is a few generations. The one rebels; the second suffers the rebellion; the third looks for an escape from that cycle, and calls on the name of the Lord. It is a little funny to notice how the current trend back towards Christianity is marked by a general sense that we are realising our grandmothers were wiser than we gave them credit for; that the religion of our grandmothers was, in fact, the eternal truth.


But should we have to wait that long? Should generations have to pass before Christ is publicly exalted? And what about ourselves – what habits and routines have we fallen into, and are trying in vain to pull ourselves out of? How long do we have to suffer in our own misery before we will call on the name of the Lord, who is ready to help us, if only we would ask?


Remember how much our Lord loves us, and how often he has helped us in the past. What have you forgotten to ask him help for? What are you waiting for?


Jesus, the ever-present help for all who call on you: rescue me from the problems I am in; and glorify your name publicly, so that all may taste of your loving-kindness.

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