Day 195
1 Chronicles 16:37‐18:17; Romans 2:1‐24; Psalm 10:16‐18; Proverbs 19:8‐9
For You Know Your Servant, Lord
In today’s reading from Romans, we see God’s righteous judgment and the power He has given to us – to all of us as believers – in our ability to accept His will for our lives. Our acceptance affects the lives of those He has entrusted to us and our own lives, both here on earth and in the afterlife, as we strive toward salvation and eternal life.
As I was reviewing today’s readings, I was reminded of the cyclical nature of these exhortations, and how our scriptures are riddled with cycles of blessings and judgment. We find a similar exhortation by Moses to God’s people in Deuteronomy 4:9, “Only guard yourself and guard your soul carefully, lest you forget the things your eyes saw, and lest these things depart your heart all the days of your life. And you shall make them known to your children, and to your children’s children.”
Perhaps this could be relegated to the ancient past, were it not for the fact that this verse above is found inscribed in stone, at the Hall of Remembrance in the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. May we never forget this painful modern-day example of our cyclical and sinful humanity.
Today, God is once again and eternally calling us to lean into His righteous judgment, so that as part of His body, we may once-and-for-all break the cycle by living His will for our lives, and by making this known to our children and our children’s children.
Amen.
The Rev. Din Bissoondial