THE WORD IN LENT
Thursday, 3rd week in Lent: March 24, 2022Jeremiah 7: 23-28; Luke 11: 14-23
What do you think? A pot kept on an open terrace, after a full day of heavy rain, will it be filled with water? There has been a heavy shower and for such a long time, but still it depends so much on the pot - whether it was kept open or closed, whether it was kept upside down or in its proper position! This is how it is with the mercy of the Lord. It is there for our taking, but if we miss it, we are depriving ourselves of it.
At times in our priorities and choices, we relegate the aspect of staying worthy of the Lord's mercies to such a despicable position that we go far far away from God and have our own existence, independent of God. The fact is that we cannot go too far, for wherever we go, the Lord is with us. Yet, we take that presence, that love and that mercy for granted. Such a painful experience of rejection, that we give the Lord.
Is this not what the Lord shared already through Hosea (in chapter 11), 'the more I called them, the more they went from me'; 'my people are bent on turning away from me'...what an expression of pain from the Lord! This is what happens with us when we take the goodness of the Lord for granted. We not only reject the goodness from the Lord, but we also place ourselves in a position where we run the danger of ruining our entire existence and its purpose, in our obstinacy and arrogance. And finally we do all we can to blame it on the Lord, saying the Lord punished me or the Lord took his anger out on someone!
One who is not with me is against me, the Lord reminds us. One who does not recognise the goodness of the Lord rejects it and keeps oneself away from it. Let us not harden our hearts!