God of abundant life, bring the fullness of life to the needs of this dear reader; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Here is our text from Lamentations 1: 1 Oh, oh, oh . . . How empty the city, once teeming with people. A widow, this city, once in the front rank of nations, once queen of the ball, she's now a drudge in the kitchen. 2 She cries herself to sleep each night, tears soaking her pillow. No one's left among her lovers to sit and hold her hand. Her friends have all dumped her. 3 After years of pain and hard labor, Judah has gone into exile. She camps out among the nations, never feels at home. Hunted by all, she's stuck between a rock and a hard place. 4 Zion's roads weep, empty of pilgrims headed to the feasts. All her city gates are deserted, her priests in despair. Her virgins are sad. How bitter her fate. 5 Her enemies have become her masters. Her foes are living it up because God laid her low, punishing her repeated rebellions. Her children, prisoners of the enemy, trudge into exile. 6 All beauty has drained from Daughter Zion's face. Her princes are like deer famished for food, chased to exhaustion by hunters.
Like so many passages in the Bible, there is a sermon in almost every sentence of this passage. There are images of situations where we ourselves have been in at one time or another. And truth be told, our memories, if we're honest with ourselves, will tell us that we usually ended up there because of our own stubbornness and rebellion against God. The Bible paints wonderful, vivid pictures of the joy and love and wonder of the life lived in obedience, but it also shares God's sadness that comes upon those who think they know more or don't need God. The life lived in God is a city full of people; the city without God becomse like the widow now financially strapped, working among the working poor, crying herself to sleep every night, having only her pillow to hold. Friends and lovers have deserted her, especially the ones whose relationship promised so much, but nothing can be found in emptiness. Forbidden love does not last. The writer says that even the roads cry because they are no longer used like before. The ones charged with bringing folks to God now find themselves in despair. The enemies once held by that city because of unfaithfulness to God, have become the masters of the city. The celebrations that should be carried on by the people of God are now enjoyed by those who have taken away the blessings. From good homes to tents, from belonging and being wanted, to a life of being alone and unwanted.
It is always our choice whether we will seek to follow God or to follow our own desires and devices. God is not fooled, God knows our hearts. Our call then is to seek God while we can, seek the joy and wonder of God's love and realize that the temptations that come from all sides have nothing eternal to offer except bitterness and loneliness.
How will you choose?
PRAYER: Loving God, forgive me the times I have chosen wrong. Forgive me the times I thought I knew more and could do more on my own. Free me to follow You and to seek You. Let the joy and wonder of Your love bless me today. I ask this in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord.
Eradio Valverde
