(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)
“You, Yahweh, remain forever.
Your throne is from generation to generation.
Why do you forget us forever,
and forsake us for so long a time?
Turn us to yourself, Yahweh, and we will be turned.
Renew our days as of old.”
(Lamentations 5:19-21)
“I will hear what God, Yahweh, will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people, his saints;
but let them not turn again to folly.
Surely his salvation is near those who fear him,
that glory may dwell in our land.
Mercy and truth meet together.
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Truth springs out of the earth.
Righteousness has looked down from heaven.
Yes, Yahweh will give that which is good.
Our land will yield its increase.
Righteousness goes before him,
and prepares the way for his steps.”
(Psalm 85:8-13)
The Word. One of the purposes of the Word is to turn our attention back to the Lord. To focus our hearts on Him. The hope of the Jews was that God would restore them. If they would return His Word to its rightful place in their lives, their hope was that God would remember His covenant with them. That He would turn from His judgment on their rebellion. That He would restore them to the Land and to His blessing. To their rightful place in the world as His people. If He would turn them back to Him through the Word, they would come back. If He would restore their days, they would live as they did in the past: devoted to Him. They put all their hopes on this. It was their ONLY hope.
The question is never simply hearing God’s Word. Prophets had spoken to them for decades upon decades about what God was saying. About relying on Him and returning to proper worship. About keeping the covenant He had struck with them. They had HEARD the words and they HAD the scriptures. The problem was they were simply hearing it. They weren’t HEARING it. They were not actively listening. They were not DOING what they heard they should be doing. During their captivity, that changed. They turned back to the scriptures and started paying attention. They gave His Word its proper place. They renewed their thinking. They leaned into Him again. And when the time of their captivity was over, they were ready to return to the Land and worship Him. To take up their place as His obedient children.
Summary
The same issue is before us every day of our lives. Will we actively listen to the Word by doing what it says, or will we insist on our own way? Our own desires? Will we submit to what we find in the Word or will we rebel by ignoring it? What is the highlight of our thinking? Do we align with Him or do we align with what the world says? There’s a real push for letting AI take over a lot of our processes in the world. As if it had answers for us. New systems for us. It doesn’t. AI is simply human thinking sped up. What we need to do is to get into the Word to see God’s thinking. He slows it down for us. So that we can understand it. So that we can clearly see our path. So that we can choose it and follow it. So that we can align with Him. He doesn’t keep us in the dark. He doesn’t let us flounder. God is about clarity and truth. He cuts through all the garbage and the fat and lets us see the inner workings. We need to listen to what He says. We need to focus on Him. We need to DO. This isn’t complex. God keeps it simple. It’s our choice. We need to choose wisely.
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