"Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil."
Joel 2:12-13
This is a prophecy of the time before the Second Coming, and even in the midst of the destruction, God's arm is still outstretched, and he pleads with us to turn to him. I love the idea here expressed as "rend your heart, and not your garments." In the Old Testament rending your garments was a sign that you were upset or sorry about something, like we might say that someone was pulling their hair out or on his knees, begging forgiveness from someone. So God is basically saying, listen, this external sign isn't what you need. I need you to show me *internally* by actually changing who you are, and what you believe, because those things are what is going to change your behavior.
Even in the midst of bad things and destruction, God still reaches out to us, and even in the midst of our own stress and frustration we can reach out to him. It isn't necessarily easy to snap ourselves out of our attitude in order to pray, of course, but talking to God can actually help us find a spot of peace in the midst of the tumult, so that our commitment to God is also a great blessing to ourselves as well, which is always the way with God, isn't it? If we try to give him something, even the tiniest bit that we can, he blesses us even more abundantly. We'll always be in debt to God, but that's actually okay, not like it would be with monetary debt. Because God loves us, and we love him, and any bond that is tying us together can only be a good thing.
Today, let's rend our hearts and not our garments. Let's turn to God and repent and change internally rather than just outwardly. Let's be the new people and the best selves that we can possibly be, not giving up because it is too hard, but working confidently, knowing that as we work with him, God will help us towards good goals.
And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil."
Joel 2:12-13
This is a prophecy of the time before the Second Coming, and even in the midst of the destruction, God's arm is still outstretched, and he pleads with us to turn to him. I love the idea here expressed as "rend your heart, and not your garments." In the Old Testament rending your garments was a sign that you were upset or sorry about something, like we might say that someone was pulling their hair out or on his knees, begging forgiveness from someone. So God is basically saying, listen, this external sign isn't what you need. I need you to show me *internally* by actually changing who you are, and what you believe, because those things are what is going to change your behavior.
Even in the midst of bad things and destruction, God still reaches out to us, and even in the midst of our own stress and frustration we can reach out to him. It isn't necessarily easy to snap ourselves out of our attitude in order to pray, of course, but talking to God can actually help us find a spot of peace in the midst of the tumult, so that our commitment to God is also a great blessing to ourselves as well, which is always the way with God, isn't it? If we try to give him something, even the tiniest bit that we can, he blesses us even more abundantly. We'll always be in debt to God, but that's actually okay, not like it would be with monetary debt. Because God loves us, and we love him, and any bond that is tying us together can only be a good thing.
Today, let's rend our hearts and not our garments. Let's turn to God and repent and change internally rather than just outwardly. Let's be the new people and the best selves that we can possibly be, not giving up because it is too hard, but working confidently, knowing that as we work with him, God will help us towards good goals.
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