Saturday

Back to the Future

I read a bit for a group from Nehemiah 9 today. 29-31 specifically. "You warned them to return...they sinned....stubbornly they turned their backs....for many years you were patient with them...you admonished them....yet they paid no attention...."

No need to wonder who he is talking about here...our people........and us.

" ...so you handed them over to the neighboring peoples....."

That sounds ominous. We can see how that played out for the Israelites...Assyria, Babylon....captivity...exile...

Then this..."But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God" Whew!

But wait a minute...can we learn something here? As I look back in scripture and history I see this cycle. Can it be broken? Is history doomed to repeat itself? I know I should not take the mercy of God as a given....we shouldn't...we should not presume on God and use that as a license to sin, to be stubborn, to do our own thing.

So I want to reflect today and ask God to guide me, guide us now so we will not be stubborn and we will pay attention. Maybe by reading this text we are paying attention a bit and that is helpful. So I want to encourage us to pray that God will continue to be gracious and merciful and we will use the free will He has given us to follow hard after Him. Blessings