Pay Attention

~~~ Zechariah 2:5-9, 14-15a ~~~ Re: Jeremiah 31:10 ~~~Luke 9:43b-45~~~

 

The Lord needed to tell the people to pay attention;

he was about to reveal his own death to them.

They could not grasp his meaning, but he wanted

 them to at least listen to the words.

If the words you hear have no way to connect to something heard before

you can have no comprehension.

 

“Pay attention to what I am telling you.
The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.”

 

Hearing the Lord speak of the Son of Man made very little sense

 to his audience. They had no prior knowledge of this Son.

 

I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.

 

Today as we read these words of mourning, joy, consolation, and sorrow

we can relate. We experience these emotions in our lives.

They represent what it means to be human.

Life events may cause us to be mournful and filled with sorrow.

This is to be expected.

God is the one who makes it possible to once again experience joy.

God is the one who gives consolation...the one who takes our sorrow away.

 

 I will be for her an encircling wall of fire, says the LORD,
and I will be the glory in her midst.

 

Jerusalem has no wall of protection...it is vulnerable to the enemy.

God does not want his people to concern themselves

with this perceived weakness.

The Lord will protect with a ring of fire.

The Lord God himself has been with the Israelites for decades,

he would not abandon them now.

They are home where they belong. The temple

is where the glory of God will shine.

 

 

I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD.

 

If God was coming to dwell in our community

 can you imagine how we would feel?

Initially there might be some who would doubt it was true.

Others would be beside themselves with excitement.

Others would immediately begin the list of what

needed to be done before his arrival.

 

The whole community would be buzzing with joy and excitement.

The truth is the Lord is here with us, but where has all the excitement gone?

How is it that we have become numb to his presence?

 

It is good that the church gives us this reminder today.

Pay attention to what I am telling you.

God is in our midst at every moment, but we tend to get

caught up in this world of distractions.

 

Blessings come to those who pay attention.

He gladdens and consoles the soul.