I just recently shared a post about the message of all the prophets of the Old Testament, John the Baptist, and Jesus. There is a constant message about the need for repentance, returning to God, walking away from idols, and wrong relationships with our neighbors.
About five years ago I went through an experience that would eventually open my eyes to what God was doing. It was hard but it was necessary. In the process, I started looking to the Lord and asking for answers and one of the things that became clear to me was that instead of looking at what others had done I was supposed to repent. Five years later I am still finding things that I must repent of. Repentance is not about getting caught and feeling bad about yourself. Repentance is about getting rid of lies and illusions and getting to know the truth.
I have started to write something that I thought would be an interesting collection of scriptures. It is something like, “What if the prophets and the writers of the books of the bible had a message for the Church today?”
Even though I believe that the Bible is a book of the history of mankind, I also do not think it is just about the past history, but also a prophetic book with a message for today. The same message that was spoken to Israel is a valid message for the Church today.
I plan to keep writing short posts about the things I have been writing about. For now, I am sharing a quote from this book about the life and message of Jeremiah. This book has been a reference that I keep going back to because of the insights and explanations of the context of the life and time of the weeping prophet.
“The task of a prophet is not to smooth things over but to make things right. The function of religion is not to make people feel good but to make them good. Love? Yes, God loves us. But his love is passionate and seeks faithful, committed love in return. God does not want tame pets to fondle and feed; he wants mature, free people who will respond to him in authentic individuality. For that to happen there must be honesty and truth. The self must be toppled from its pedestal. There must be pure hearts and clear intelligence, confession of sin and commitment in faith.
And peace? Yes, God gives peace. But it is not a peace that gets along with everyone by avoiding the hint of anything unpleasant. It is not a peace achieved by refusing to talk about painful subjects or touch sore spots. It is a peace that is hard won by learning to pray. There is evil to combat, apathy to defeat, dullness to challenge, ambition to confront. There are persons all around us, children and parents, youth and adults, who are being trampled and violated, who are being hurt and despised. Any preaching of peace that turns its back on these is a cruel farce.” (Eugene Peterson – Run With the Horses, 84)
John 8:31
Psalm 51:6
Job 34:32
Psalm 40:6