A Stop Along the Way

OK ... some heavy stuff has gone past our eyes over the last 8 months.  We are into the prophetic writings and we have heard and read  some pretty harsh stuff.  Time to stop and think for a bit.
Think about God's overall purpose in His Word.  Some would say it is to instill particular behavior, show His might, or teach us commandments.  These all come out in the Bible, but God has an overriding purpose stated often in the Old and New Testaments.  Exodus 19, Jesus prayer from Gethsemane and the conclusion of John's Revelation state that God desires something impossibly good and unbelievably graceful ... He wants to bring us to Himself (His place prepared for us).  His Word says there is plenty of room for everyone, although it is equally clear that not everyone will choose God's path to His house.  Still, that's pretty good news since we have been getting 'owned' by the words of the prophets.
Yes, God's plan is to bring us to Him, but the prophetic word seems a bit harsh.  What seems to be the pattern of those pesky prophets?  Glad you asked!
They are clearly telling God's people that their actions are not consistent with a people who are supposed to know and love God.  They are saying that these actions will result in bad consequences.  And they are calling the people to repent immediately so that God, who is merciful, might have mercy on them.  Collectively they don't seem to listen, with the exception of Jonah's Ninevites.  But the other side of the prophetic message is that they all tell of a day when God will rescue His people.  God's means of rescue is not what we would like or expect.  God doesn't send an army of angels, a great wind to sweep our enemies into the sea or some other theophanic miracle.  Instead He sends a baby to take on human form, live among us, step into our mess and step into time to rescue us.
The next few weeks will be about the new Covenant, a new heart and some old problems we need to shed.  These include letting God be the authority in our lives, letting God lead us, letting God become our first priority and following God to His place and away from the traps, guilt, sin and hurt the Hebrews says "so easily weighs us down."  I'm down for that!  How about you!  Pastor Randy