Lent Devotional 2021 - Pittsburg - Flipbook - Page 16
and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah,
you that enter these gates to worship the LORD. 3 Thus says
the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and
your doings, and let me dwell with you in this place. 4 Do
not trust in these deceptive words: “This is the temple of the
LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.”
5 For if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you
truly act justly one with another, 6 if you do not oppress the
alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in
this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own
hurt, 7 then I will dwell with you in this place, in the land
that I gave of old to your ancestors forever and ever. 8 Here
you are, trusting in deceptive words to no avail. 9 Will you
steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings
to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known,
10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which
is called by my name, and say, “We are safe!”—only to go
on doing all these abominations? 11 Has this house, which is
called by my name, become a den of robbers in your sight?
You know, I too am watching, says the LORD. 12 Go now to
my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at
first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people
Israel. 13 And now, because you have done all these things,
says the LORD, and when I spoke to you persistently, you did
not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer,
14 therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name,
in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and
to your ancestors, just what I did to Shiloh. 15 And I will cast
you out of my sight, just as I cast out all your kinsfolk, all the
offspring of Ephraim.
DEVOTIONAL
The word of God through Jeremiah called the people of
Judah to reevaluate their worship and spiritual practices. They
worshiped God wholeheartedly in the temple, yet their deeds
outside the temple were appalling. They lied and cheated.
They oppressed the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.
They shed innocent blood. Relegating their worship of God
to within the four corners of the temple, they ignored the law
of Moses’ command to “Love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deut.
6:15).
Jeremiah reminded the Judahites that God was interested in
their day-to-day lives. To God, receiving their worship was
just as important as their loving the stranger, the fatherless,
and the widow—just as important as the negotiations they
made in their day-to-day lives in private and in public. God
watches!
In this period of Lent, God is reminding us that he’s
concerned about the “mundane” aspects of our lives just as
much as he’s concerned the “sacred” aspects. For worshiping
God is not one particular act—worshiping God is a lifestyle
that should permeate all the areas of our lives. In Romans
12:1 Paul writes, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and
16 Lent Devotional 2021
sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as
a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is
your spiritual worship.” The hymn All to Jesus I Surrender
articulates one’s personal commitment to enacting this verse.
To what areas of your life have you relegated God? Have you
surrendered your all to God? God is calling us to reexamine
and surrender fully to him everything about our lives.
PRAYER
Lord, teach me to surrender my soul, my body, and my spirit
to you. Let me not hold back any area of my life from you
lordship and control. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 2021
The Rev. Alyce Weaver Dunn ’88
SCRIPTURE
John 7:37-52
37 On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus
was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty
come to me, 38 and let the one who believes in me drink. As
the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow
rivers of living water.’” 39 Now he said this about the Spirit,
which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was
no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified. 40 When they
heard these words, some in the crowd said, “This is really the
prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Messiah.” But some
asked, “Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee,
does he? 42 Has not the scripture said that the Messiah
is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the
village where David lived?” 43 So there was a division in the
crowd because of him. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest
him, but no one laid hands on him. 45 Then the temple
police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who
asked them, “Why did you not arrest him?” 46 The police
answered, “Never has anyone spoken like this!” 47 Then
the Pharisees replied, “Surely you have not been deceived
too, have you? 48 Has any one of the authorities or of the
Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd, which does not
know the law—they are accursed.” 50 Nicodemus, who had
gone to Jesus before, and who was one of them, asked,
51 “Our law does not judge people without first giving them
a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?” 52 They
replied, “Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search
and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.”
DEVOTIONAL
Growing up, I frequently attended summer camp at
Jumonville, one of our United Methodist camps in the
Western Pennsylvania Conference. An annual highlight