Lamentations 3:24-27

It is good for a man when he takes up
A yoke in his youth.
“He will sit alone and be silent,
Because he bears it on himself.
He will give his cheek to the one who strikes him,
And he will be filled with insults.
Yet the Lord shall not reject him forever.”

Personal Challenge

Once again, the imagery of farm life is lost on those who have never had the opportunity to spend some time on a farm. We are told by the writer of Lamentations that it is good to take up a yoke in one’s youth. What does this mean? Taking up a yoke is to voluntarily put on the mantle which binds us to our lifelong vocation. By vocation, I do not mean my job. By vocation, I mean that action that I will follow and grow in the remainder of my days. It could be the habit of reading my Bible and praying every day, or giving a tithe of my earnings or serving in my local church. If we choose to take up this yoke early in our lives it will shape us for the remainder of our lives. If our yoke is the yoke of Jesus, it will shape us to be like Him. Glory be to God!

Ephesians 5:25-28

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.

Personal Challenge

“As Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her…” Jesus was never married, and yet He was able to demonstrate to us husbands how to treat our wives, with sacrificial love. In this overall passage, Paul tells the wives to submit to their husbands, but he tells us, husbands, to die for our wives, sacrificially. This is the only way that they can be expected to submit to us. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Lamentations 3:22-23

“The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who will seek Him, the Good One.
He will wait for and quietly expect
The salvation of the Lord.”

Personal Challenge

Sometimes it is difficult being a Christian in the modern age where almost everything is available instantly. We have fast food, quick access to cash at the ATM, fast cars, unlimited amounts of information at our fingertips, and a myriad of other things in our lives delivered to us virtually instantly. We no longer have the patience to stand in line or to pause our busy schedule to help someone in need or spend time with our loved ones. We have lost the understanding of what it means to wait for someone or something, or in the case of this passage to wait quietly, expecting our Lord to show up in our lives. We have also lost the ability, or the desire, to seek that which is good for us because this takes time too. God is not playing some kind of cosmic hide-and-seek game with us. He is always present in our lives. The waiting and seeking we do are to prepare our hearts for Him. Glory be to God!

Ephesians 5:14-16

Therefore He says:
“Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light.”
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Personal Challenge

I am basically a night owl. I have no problem staying up and just plain enjoying the day and the evening. However, I do not like having to get up in the morning. Who cares that the early bird catches the worm. I certainly don’t plan on eating any worms. And yet, I have chosen to use my mornings for my exercise time as well as my devotion and prayer time, so I must get up earlier to start my day off properly. This passage speaks to us spiritually in this area of our lives. Without Christ in our Ares, we are dead… spiritually. We are called to awake from our slumber in death and to arise at the call of Christ or that He can give us the light of eternal life. But it does not stop there. We are told to walk circumspectly as wise people in that light and redeeming the days that we have for His glory.

Lamentations 3:52-54

“You heard my voice;
Do not hide Your ears from my supplication.
You drew near at my call on the day I called upon You.
You said to me, ‘Do not fear.’
O Lord, You pleaded the case for my soul;
You redeemed my life.”

Encouraging Words

Our great and merciful God hears our voices when we cry out to us. He is never deaf to our supplications. When we call out to Him, He draws near to us so that we can feel and see His love for us. He encourages us to not fear this temporal life and the aspects of it that press in upon us, for we are now members of His eternal family. He pleads our case before the holy judgment seat and redeems us, forever. Glory be to God!

Zechariah 7:9-10

“Thus says the Lord Almighty: ‘Render a just judgment; show mercy and compassion each to his brother. Do not oppress the widow, or the orphan, or the foreigner, or the poor. And let not one remember in his heart any wrong of his brother.’”

Personal Challenge

“Render a just judgment.” God wants us to evaluate the world around us, including the people in our lives at any moment in time, and to discern what our behavior should be. In the process of doing this, we must assess those around us with love, mercy, and compassion, and not in a bitter, judgmental way. We are to go out of our way to not oppress the widow, or the orphan, or the foreigner, or the poor as we do that discerning assessment. To the contrary, it is our responsibility to show them God’s love. We are also told to not hold a grudge against anyone that has offended us, less that cause us to sin. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Ephesians 5:8-10

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.

Personal Challenge

Paul is not telling us that we transitioned from living in the darkness to living in the light when we became God’s children. He is saying that before Christ we were darkness. He is saying that now that we are Christ’s, we are light as He is light and that we should shine in such a way that others are blinded by God’s light showing through us. As we choose to sin, we cover this light and make it dimmer. However, we can continue to run to our father to be cleansed of our sin and to be able to shine again. Glory be to God!

Baruch 2:14-15

O Lord, hear our prayer and our petition, and for Your own sake deliver us, and grant us mercy before those who have carried us into exile, in order that the whole earth may come to know that You are the Lord our God, for Israel and his descendants are called by Your name.

Personal Challenge

This passage in Baruch provides an interesting spin on the purpose of our prayers and their answers from God. We should not just pray for answers to our needs. God loves us and will always show His mercy to us. If we truly believe that and trust that He will always take care of us, then our prayer should be that others might see His hand at work in our lives and know Him. The answers to our prayers are temporary because we are still living in a temporal world, but if those answers show another person the way to our Father, then they can be eternal answers. Glory be to God, and may others come to know Him through the blessings He pours out on His children.

Ephesians 5:1-2

Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

Personal Challenge

“Be imitators of God as dear children.” One of my fond memories of my children, when they were young, was how they tried to imitate me. The loved me and looked up to me, wanting to be like me. This was very humbling to me and reminded me of how much responsibility I bore as a parent. Isn’t this what God wants from us? He wants us to come to Him as innocent children, looking up to Him, and desiring to be like Him. And, what is it that He wants us to imitate? His love! Glory be to God!