Alone and Unnoticed?

"When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place...What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?" (Psalm 8:3-4)

Stop and consider these verses.

Do you ever feel alone in your day? Do you ever feel like you are doing life all alone? Do you ever feel discouraged because "no one cares?" Do you ever think, "No one gets me?"

Commenting on these verses my ESV study Bible notes read, "It is astonishing that the God who is great enough to have made the heavens can take notice of mere man; but He goes beyond taking notice: He is mindful of man, He cares for him. God's greatness does not mean remoteness but rather and eye for detail, no matter how small."

God is mindful of you...will you be mindful of Him?

Lingering Like Lot

Genesis 19 records for us the details of God's destruction of the city of Sodom - a well known story that is often used to fuel the false teaching that the God of the Old Testament was all about judgment.  The truth is Genesis 19 is mainly about MERCY...God's mercy towards Lot and his family.  His mercy is shown in the form of two angels that not only protect Lot from the lustful citizens of Sodom, but it seems they literally drag Lot and his family out of the city before God's judgment falls.

But why are they dragging Lot away? Because of these three words: "But he lingered" (vs. 16). Lot lingered. Lot just couldn't bring himself to let go of the sinful city of Sodom. Genesis doesn't record for us what exactly Lot was clinging to but we can definitively conclude that it wasn't righteous. Because according to God's actions there was nothing righteous about the city. Lot was in bondage. Lot was blind. Lot was a lot like us (no pun intended)...or maybe I should say we are a lot like Lot (no pun intended there either...OK, maybe a little).

As I thought on Lot's lingering this morning, I began to think about the sin that I am lingering around and the sin that I'm letting linger in my life. I won't make this into a confession blog, though I'm sure anyone reading this would find that quite interesting! But suffice it to say that I like Lot am a lingerer...and you probably are too?

God isn't going to send angels to drag us away from our sin, but the gospel truth is that He's already done something far greater. In His great mercy God sent Jesus to drag the sin out of us. Jesus death on the cross and our union with Him frees us from the bonds of sin...frees us from the power of sin...opens our eyes to recognize sin's lies.  Ephesians 2:1-10 is one of many passages that reminds us of God's Mercy. I encourage you to read the whole text, but here are a few verses to wet your appetite:

"But God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (4-6).  

Let the Glorious Gospel Truth motivate you to stop lingering and get moving...moving away from Sin and closer to Christ.

Why Is It So Cold?

This morning Genesis 8:22 caught my attention. It reads,

"While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease."

This verse is a promise spoken by God, following the flood.  Notice what He promises: "Seasonal Faithfulness."  He says there will be a spring, a fall, a winter, and a summer. As long as there is a earth these things will not cease. My curiosity lead me to my bookshelf where I picked up a commentary on Genesis by Kenneth Mathews (no relation, that I know of...) and I was blessed by his comments:

"Instead of destruction, the earth will be blessed with the regularity of predictable environmental pattens that are undergirded by the directive hand of God (v. 22). This promise is dependent upon the goodness of God and not the righteousness of humanity, for humanity will always languish in sin."

Isn't it good - on a cold day, like today - to be reminded that our God is good and faithful. With every "burrhh" sound you make and with every "shiver" you shake let the cold remind you of God's faithfulness.