{"id":2358,"date":"2023-02-09T09:22:10","date_gmt":"2023-02-09T14:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=2358"},"modified":"2023-02-09T09:22:10","modified_gmt":"2023-02-09T14:22:10","slug":"take-it-to-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/09\/take-it-to-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"Take It to Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To listen to this reflection as a podcast,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/a>.

Whenever we hear God\u2019s Word, something is likely to get torn.\u00a0

Either our hearts will be torn \u2013 even to the point that our lives will be disrupted in some way \u2013 or we will figure out some way to tear up God\u2019s Word.

Those two alternatives are on display towards the end of the book of Jeremiah, the most famous Hebrew prophet during the final days of the Judean monarchy, about 600 years before Christ.\u00a0 It was an ominous time for God\u2019s people.\u00a0 The Babylonian army was devouring Palestine, engulfing one village after another.\u00a0 The fall of Jerusalem appeared inevitable. \u00a0The entire population was on its knees.

But would the people turn to Yahweh for help \u2013 the Lord who had always provided for them \u2013 or would they bet their lives on one of the myriad pagan deities who also promised deliverance?\u00a0

The stage had been set for this moment in history by Josiah, the last king of Judah who loved God with all his heart.\u00a0 \u201cHe did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed completely the ways of his father David [in this context, \u201cfather\u201d means ancestor], not turning aside to the right or to the left\u201d (2 Kings 22:2).\u00a0

When the king ordered a long-overdue housecleaning of the Temple, some of his officials found what they called \u201cthe Book of the Law.\u201d\u00a0 Scholars believe they probably uncovered a dusty copy of the book of Deuteronomy, which presents in stark detail the blessings of walking with God \u2013 along with the serious consequences of failing to do so.

When they read the manuscript aloud to Josiah, his response was instantaneous.\u00a0 He tore his robes \u2013 a sign of deep anguish (2 Kings 22:11).\u00a0 Then he promptly instituted Judah\u2019s last great national revival.\u00a0 Hopefully it wasn\u2019t too late to seek the favor of the God who loved them.\u00a0

Jeremiah grew up during this brief spiritual golden age.\u00a0 Perhaps there was actual hope that Jerusalem might enjoy a happy future.

But Josiah unexpectedly died in battle.\u00a0 His successors, members of his own family, proved to be bankrupt with regard to faith.\u00a0 Judah staggered back into idolatry.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0

So God took action.\u00a0

\u201cIn the fourth year of Jehoiakim\u00a0son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the\u00a0Lord:\u00a0\u2018Take a scroll\u00a0and write on it all the words\u00a0I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah and all the other nations from the time I began speaking to you in the reign of Josiah\u00a0till now.\u00a0Perhaps\u00a0when the people of Judah hear\u00a0about every disaster I plan to inflict on them, they will each turn\u00a0from their wicked ways; then I will forgive\u00a0their wickedness and their sin\u2019\u201d (Jeremiah 36:1-3).

Here was another chance.\u00a0

Jeremiah dictated God\u2019s message to his friend Baruch, who wrote the words on a scroll and read them aloud in the Temple.\u00a0 Unsurprisingly, the listeners were gripped by fear.\u00a0 \u201cWe must report all these words to the king.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0

This moment is reminiscent of Albert Einstein\u2019s urgent efforts in 1939 to send a personal note to President Franklin Roosevelt.\u00a0 He warned that Nazi Germany was trying to build an atomic bomb, and the U.S. had better beat them to it.\u00a0 FDR listened.\u00a0

Now everything hangs in the balance for Judah.\u00a0 Will Jehoiakim listen, too?\u00a0

The answer is no.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0

It\u2019s the month of December, and the king is sitting in his winter apartment in front of a firepot \u2013 essentially a portable heater.\u00a0 Jeremiah\u2019s scroll is read aloud in his presence.\u00a0 But when the servant \u201chad read three or four columns of the scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe\u2019s knife and threw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll was burned in the fire.\u00a0 The king and all his attendants who heard all these words showed no fear, nor did they tear their clothes\u201d (Jeremiah 36:23-24).\u00a0

Whenever we hear God\u2019s Word, something is likely to get torn.\u00a0

We can let God\u2019s message tear into our hearts, prompting us to \u201ctear our clothes\u201d in some respect as an act of repentance.\u00a0 That\u2019s what Josiah did.

Or we can tear up God\u2019s Word and pretend it has nothing to do with our lives.\u00a0 That\u2019s what Jehoiakim did.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0

Mark Twain once quipped, \u201cIt ain\u2019t those parts of the Bible that I can\u2019t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.\u201d\u00a0

Wouldn\u2019t it be great to take a sharp knife and cut away certain parts of the Bible?\u00a0 We can slice and dice what Scripture says about sexual boundaries and throw those texts into the fire.\u00a0 We can carve out what Jesus says about praying for our enemies \u2013 that God wants us to bless them, no less.\u00a0 Why don\u2019t we just burn up the verses about accountability and judgment in the next world?

There\u2019s no need for an actual knife, of course.\u00a0 Just close your ears.\u00a0 Stop listening to God\u2019s prophets and apostles when they bring up subjects that make you fearful, angry, or confused.\u00a0

Of course, that will leave you in the same boat as Jehoiakim \u2013 a man whose abject failure as a leader spelled doom for his entire nation.

But there\u2019s another path.\u00a0

Listen to God\u2019s Word.\u00a0 Take it to heart.\u00a0 Let it penetrate your most ancient defenses, even if it feels that your heart might never be the same.\u00a0 Taking God\u2019s Word to heart means that our inner worlds will have to be remade, rebuilt, restored.

Thank goodness God just happens to be the Great Surgeon.\u00a0 And he offers this promise:

\u201cHe heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds\u201d<\/em> (Psalm 147:3).\u00a0
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to this reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here. Whenever we hear God\u2019s Word, something is likely to get torn.\u00a0 Either our hearts will be torn \u2013 even to the point that our lives will be disrupted in some way \u2013 or we will figure out some way to tear up God\u2019s Word. Those two alternatives are on display towards… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2359,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2358"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2360,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2358\/revisions\/2360"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}