Yet hear the word of the Lord , O Zedekiah king of Judah! Thus says the L ord concerning you, 'You will not die by the sword. You will die in peace; and as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so they will burn spices for you; and they will lament for you, "Alas, lord!"' For I have spoken the word," declares the Lord .
Observation
Zedekiah was a terrible king for Jerusalem. He did not follow the ways of The Lord. He even oppressed Jeremiah, punishing him for speaking the truth. He never listened to God's warnings. Yet God still shows himself merciful to Zedekiah. He promises that Zedekiah will be mourned, and die in peace. I imagine when Zedekiah was taken captive, those words must have brought incredible comfort to him. And these were the words that came from a prophet he despised and a God he rejected. God's grace and mercy is so very humbling.
Application
I'm struck by the fact that God shows extreme grace and mercy to our leaders, but we don't. God who has every reason to hold a grudge and every reason to reject, does neither. Yet, when we don't agree with a leaders decision, we dishonor our leader, and many times we wrap God's name around those actions.
I don't agree with many of the decisions the president has made, in fact, my heart breaks over some of those decisions frequently. However, he is still president, and still deserves to be honored as such.
Prayer
Father, I'm sorry for the times I have dishonored those who are leaders. From the president to my own husband, I have been critical. Please forgive me. Help me to be honoring with word and deed to those You have put over me. I know ultimately I will honor You if I honor them.
No comments:
Post a Comment