1 August | EVERYONE
“Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name.’" Ezekiel 39: 25
Forty years had passed, carried away by the blizzard of time. They had disappeared into the mist of history. A sad story of suffering and tears that the people of Israel lived through as a natural result of their rebelliousness. That is always the way things are in this life. You toy around with God’s patience, you believe you are indestructible, you trust in your strength; and suddenly, as if in a strange nightmare, you see your castles shattered into so tiny pieces that they sink in a sea of lamentations.
But God does not forget His children. After the time of exile, as we read in today's verse, God announced that He would bring back His captive people. The reasons for the restoration of His people were twofold. First, the divine mercy that never tires of giving opportunities to His children. Human beings, in their rebelliousness, may come to believe that there is no remedy for them. You may look in the mirror of life and conclude that you are lost forever, but God's love is so great and wonderful that it reaches the wounded soul where it is and restores it.
The other reason for bringing His people back home is, as we have read above, His "jealousy" for His "holy name." That is, the need for the world to know the divine character and its saving power. Every time a child of God falls into the abyss of sin, the Lord's name is in question. Demonic forces question whether God is capable of saving.
The cross was the Lord's response. The blood shed in abundance on the cross demonstrated to the entire universe that for God there is no case lost and that He is willing to pay the price to restore His creatures.
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This eternal love is available for you today. Do not be discouraged if you fail over and over again. Lift up your eyes to Calvary and bathe in the streams of His mercy. Do it now!