Cry Out to The Lord in Repentance
Scripture Passage: Joel 1:13-20 (NASB)
13 Put on sackcloth
And mourn, you priests;
Wail, you ministers of the altar!
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
You ministers of my God,
For the grain offering and the drink offering
Have been withheld from the house of your God.
14 Consecrate a fast,
Proclaim a solemn assembly;
Gather the elders
And all the inhabitants of the land
To the house of the Lord your God,
And cry out to the Lord.
15 Woe for the day!
For the day of the Lord is near,
And it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
16 Has food not been cut off before our eyes, and
Joy and rejoicing from the house of our God?
17 The seeds have dried up under their shovels;
The storehouses have become desolate,
The grain silos are ruined,
Because the grain has dried up.
18 How the animals have groaned!
The herds of cattle have wandered aimlessly
Because there is no pasture for them;
Even the flocks of sheep have suffered.
19 To You, Lord, I cry out;
For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness,
And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.
20 Even the animals of the field pant for You;
For the stream beds of water are dried up,
And fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
SUMMARY
As Judah is faced with an extreme disaster in today’s passage, Joel urges all people to repent and cry out to the Lord for help. He asks the priests as spiritual leaders to lead them to repentance. Their situation is so severe that people have not even been able to give offerings to God. But regardless of the situation, Joel tells everyone to consecrate a fast and proclaim a solemn assembly to demonstrate their faith and dependence on the Lord. He then describes the devastation Judah is to face on the day of the Lord. There is no food or water. Joy dries up, seeds shrivel up, animals groan of hunger and fire devours the pastures of the wilderness.
MEDITATION & REFLECTION
Judah’s people were in a desperate situation and Joel asks everyone to be included in the fast, not just any fast but a sincere fast. He sees that the judgement day is near and knows that God will judge them even more severely. He urges everyone to wholeheartedly repent and come back to depend on God. God never turns away from His crying people. He is the creator and the only one who can restore and recover His people.
Repentance is not easy especially in today’s world that encourages denial and blaming of others. It becomes harder to say the simple word ‘sorry’ and we even avoid it because of what it portrays. We are busy coming up with excuses and explanations rather than admitting our mistake and accepting it. But God wants us to confess our sins and come to Him for not just for forgiveness but for complete dependence.
Today’s passage gave me a deeper understanding on repentance and fasting. I knew that fasting is a holy act to show one’s faith, but I did not realize the true meaning behind it. People of Judah needed to see that only God can sustain them, not food or soil. It was God’s judgement and they needed to repent as a nation. I realized how important it is to repent not just individually but also corporately as a body of Christ. Repentance is a way to strengthen our faith and relationship with God. It is what brings us closer to God in any given time. Joel urgently asks everyone to cry out to the Lord even during the devastation because it is never too late to ask for His forgiveness. When we cry out, God weeps with us. He never turns away from His crying people. He is always readily available to forgive and take us back into His arms.
God really wants our heart in everything we do. I found myself examining my heart once again. Do I really hunger for God or hunger for worldly desires and admiration? We can do so many religious activities like small groups and even QT but if our hearts are not in the right place, we’re doing them in vain. As I reflect, I realized I was going through the motion of doing QT last week without engaging my heart because our group was not meeting to share this week. I didn’t invest the time to meditate but I should and would have if I was really hungry for God. It’s so easy to stray away from the Lord but through repentance I am able to come back and be restored.
APPLICATION
I repent for doing QT as a check list rather than meditating fully with my heart last week. I also repent for not surrendering and forgetting to depend on God for all my needs. I will make it a practice to repent more often throughout the day and remember to seek for God’s dependency in all situations, big or small, rather than only when I’m facing impossible situations.
PRAYER
Jesus, I repent for not reading and receiving the Word last week with my heart and letting it to take root in my heart. Help me to cherish every Word and remember that your Word breathes life to me and to seek your Word with my heart and not with my head. Help me to repent properly, wholeheartedly, and frequently. Not just admitting my sins but transforming me, from being self-reliant to fully dependent on you. Thank you for your grace and restoring my heart back to you. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
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