Tuesday June 27, 2006

Text for the Day -- Jeremiah 22:6-9
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For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:
You are like Gilead to me,
like the summit of Lebanon;
but I swear that I will make you a desert,
an uninhabited city.
I will prepare destroyers against you,
all with their weapons;
they shall cut down your choicest cedars
and cast them into the fire.

And many nations will pass by this city, and all of them will say one
to another, 'Why has the Lord dealt in this way with that great
city?' And they will answer, 'Because they abandoned the covenant of
the Lord their God, and worshipped other gods and served them.'

Devotional
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God speaks a word of judgment against Israel if they fail to live up
to the life the covenant called them to. They were to live justly in
line with God's desire for a holy people. But if they didn't they
would be like a forest cut down and turn into a desert place. There
would be no shade nor shelter. God's kingdom is not just a kingdom of
salvation but a kingdom of justice as well. To live under the shade
of God's kingdom means to live in the covenant God calls us to
embrace - mercy and justice.

Prayer
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Give me courage to live in justice and mercy, gracious God. Amen