Throughout history, God has continued to pursue people – providing for the poor, rescuing the prisoners and releasing the debtors. Not only does He display constant care and loving kindness for all of mankind, He gives us instructions to do the same to one another.
From Deuteronomy 15 –
“At the end of every seventh year you must cancel the debts of everyone who owes you money…”
“Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.”
“…in the seventh year you must set that servant free.”
and Psalm 102 –
“Tell them the Lord looked down
from his heavenly sanctuary.
He looked down to earth from heaven
to hear the groans of the prisoners,
to release those condemned to die.”
and in Isaiah 42, we see His great care for us through His servant Christ.
God sends His this suffering servant, the One who will…
demonstrate (His) righteousness.
be a light to guide the nations.
open the eyes of the blind, and
free the captives.
He will not…
shout or raise his voice in public.
crush the weakest reed
or put out a flickering candle.
Do we deserve such treatment? Sometimes it is easy for us to blame ourselves for not measuring up. We feel inadequate and undeserving. We even think we are totally to blame for the messed up state we are in. We tend to see ourselves as our own worst enemy.
finally from Revelation 12 – we get a glimpse of a bigger story that has developed behind the scenes:
“For the accuser of our brothers and sisters
has been thrown down to earth—
the one who accuses them
before our God day and night.”
“…But terror will come on the earth and the sea,
for the devil has come down to you in great anger,
knowing that he has little time.”
“And the dragon (Satan, the devil) … declared war against… all who keep God’s commandments and maintain their testimony for Jesus.”
We have an enemy who is set on robbing, killing and destroying us. I’m not suggesting we have an excuse for moral poverty or our failure to keep God’s instructions, but I do think its possible that we just might not be our own worst enemy.
paul
Sixty-six books in a year 