Day 297: Be Eager

Titus 2; Jeremiah 15-16; Psalm 126

Titus 2 is awesome. I love when scripture is so clear on how to live and why we should live that way. It talks about always being a good example, sincere and not criticizing. Why? So that our "enemies will be too ashamed to say anything against" us. Then, there is this dynamite passage all about how kind God is and why he did what he did:
God has shown us how kind he is by coming to save all people. He taught us to give up our wicked ways and our worldly desires and to live decent and honest lives in this world. We are filled with hope as we wait for the glorious return of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. He gave himself to rescue us from everything that is evil and to make our hearts pure. He wanted us to be his own people and to be eager to do right.
This passage touches my heart because I cannot deny that God wants to save us all. Not just the people I like, or can stand. Everyone. It also explains what we are to do as a result of his great kindness: live decent and honest lives, remaining pure and doing right. Jesus died to rescue us from "everything that is evil." We need to live our lives away from the evil that can be so tempting, not wasting the incredible gift we have been given.

Jeremiah is having a rough time. He feels worthless, broken, and depressed because God is too mad to change his mind and enemies are swarming him. He makes an interesting comment thought: "When you spoke to me, I was glad to obey, because I belong to you, The Lord All-Powerful." What if I, if we, took this perspective when hearing from God? If I heard his prompting in my heart, and simply obeyed because I knew I belonged to him. So often, I wonder if it's really something I should do, if I can actually do it because of time, skills, money, etc. I wonder what the consequences might be, what people might think...the excuses go on and on. Instead, I need to trust that when God guides me, he has an incredible purpose, and I can trust his judgment. So, just do it. Obey. God is good and following his direction is the best thing we can do, not only for ourselves, but for others.

This psalm talks about how they cried on the way to plant the crops, but celebrated at the harvest. We sometimes go kicking and screaming into situations God has called us to, thinking things won't work out, or they are too hard, etc. But without the effort of planting the crops, we would never get to experience a harvest. Without putting in some hard work up front, we would never get to celebrate the miracles and works of God.