Image from biblia.com
Hear the devotional: https://anchor.fm/eradio-valverde/episodes/A-God-of-Hope-e1pfgli
27 "Be ready. The time's coming" - God's Decree - "when I will plant people and animals in Israel and Judah, just as a farmer plants seed. 28 And in the same way that earlier I relentlessly pulled up and tore down, took apart and demolished, so now I am sticking with them as they start over, building and planting. 29 "When that time comes you won't hear the old proverb anymore, Parents ate the green apples, their children got the stomachache. 30 "No, each person will pay for his own sin. You eat green apples, you're the one who gets sick. 31 "That's right. The time is coming when I will make a brand-new covenant with Israel and Judah. 32 It won't be a repeat of the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant even though I did my part as their Master." God's Decree. 33 "This is the brand-new covenant that I will make with Israel when the time comes. I will put my law within them - write it on their hearts! - and be their God. And they will be my people. 34 They will no longer go around setting up schools to teach each other about God. They'll know me firsthand, the dull and the bright, the smart and the slow. I'll wipe the slate clean for each of them. I'll forget they ever sinned!" God's Decree. If This Ordered Cosmos Ever Fell to Pieces (Jeremiah 31:27-34 The Message Bible)
A most wonderful of Wednesday for you dear Friend, is my prayer for you. I shared with you the unexpected news about my friend, Rev. Chabelo Gomez, and I remember meeting him while a youth and he was there for me all during my years in the Rio Grande Conference. Sadly, the last time I saw him was at our friend Daniel Soliz' funeral not too long ago. May God's comfort and peace be with Chabelo. Nellie and I were blessed to visit his household when his wife, Katy, was under hospice care herself. I know Chabelo longs for that reunion. Also, we praise and thank God for the amazing recovery in Mr. Doug Copeland's life while recovering at his mother's home here in Seguin.
If we misbehave, we know we face consequences. I remember my first year of freedom and the many things that I did that I know I should not have done. My parents dropped me off at my dormitory at Lon Morris College, in Jacksonville, Texas, just as school was to start. All my earthly belongings fit in the truck of their old Chevrolet. That includes my clothing, shoes, and my most precious possession, the high school graduation gift of a Radio Shack stereo system. And of course, my very precious and limited collection of vinyl records. Kids, ask your parents about record albums, or visit a Target store's music section and you'll see some new albums, but take away a digit from the price and you'll see what we used to pay for our albums. I carried my stuff upstairs, and walked back outside. An upperclassman from New Mexico asked if I wanted to go to the movies. I started to say, "Let me go ask permi-," and laughed, "I don't need permission, yes, I'll go." I went on my first outing and did not need permission. Somehow, I was placed in the roughest of the dorms on that small campus. I met some of the most incredibly creative and mischievous students I had ever met. Please keep in mind that I was in the GT program all of my life. The Gordo y Travieso program (Fat and Mischievous). One night I decided it was my turn to do something that would help keep dorm life interesting. Kids, I am not advocating such behavior for you! But I took the recycling bin and put the contents of said bin into a clothes dryer and put in my two quarters (yes, that's how old I am) and pressed Play. Okay, it was really Start, but you get it. Long story short, I'm in the Dean of Students Office not too long after. Actually, I was there with two or three other misbehaving colleagues, in the presence of the Dean himself, The Reverend Virgil Matthews, who also held the title of Pre-Ministerial Program Director, professor of Bible, etc. I faced expulsion from the school. And then facing the wrath of my mother and father, who were counting on their eldest son to do right by them by being the first in the family to attend college. And here I was supposedly studying for ministry and I was a law-breaker, okay rule breaker. My mind and heart raced, for I knew I deserved whatever the Dean meted out as fair justice for my deeds. Yes, I was praying, bur realizing in my heart that I deserved nothing special, just strength to pack and go home, find another college willing to accept a prankster, who might also have to renegotiate with God about what true calling I might really have.
The Reverend Dean Virgil Matthew could not have been more gracious. He gave me another chance with a stern "You should know better" talk. He could have called my Dad who would have driven up from Houston and murdered me, but he didn't. He could have called my Mom who would have cried for days, and she would have murdered me as well; but he didn't. He gave me another chance. God is like that and that's why God called such selfless, sweet men to be pastors, and deans.
God is a God who plants and expects a harvest from each planting that He does. God took a chance on me, as God has taken a chance on you. This is the message of this passage. God can and sometimes does rip up His plantings, but that's only when the seeds have done nothing or care nothing about what they were supposed to do. That's usually the last straw as far as God is concerned, but in this passage, the prophet is declaring hope to the hopeless, and a future to those wandering lost and away from God. In fact, the more classic versions of this passage say the parents eat the sour grapes and their children get the stomachache. God says in verse 30, "No, each person will pay for his own sin. You eat green apples, you're the one who gets sick." and that God will establish a "brand-new covenant with Israel and Judah." This new covenant will emphasize the importance of personal relationships with God instead of pointing at others and expecting a protection of sorts; everyone must answer for themselves, God is declaring. People will come to know God personally; all who desire that relationship will know God, and like only God can do (and sweet, thoughtful deans), declare the slate wiped clean. "I'll forget they even sinned!" Amen.
PRAYER: Awesome God, how great is Thy love for us, that You grant us second, third and one mission chances to start new; and You, Who have the only authority to do so, wipe clean the slate. Forgive us, and allow us to come to know You personally. In Christ Jesus we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! YOUR CALL TO ACTION: Ask God for a second chance on something you know you should not have done!
Receive my love and blessings for joy,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
