the cause

Having the opportunity to move back to Auburn three weeks before classes start provided me with a rare window of unscheduled time.  It's been a time of relaxing and reflecting, and I'm grateful for this calm before the storm of fall semester.  I've been able to spend lots of time studying God's Word, and I feel like I understand for the first time the way that God speaks directly to His children through the medium of the Bible.  

In the book of Lamentations, the prophet writing (historians believe it may have been Jeremiah) is expressing his grief over the fall of the city of Jerusalem.  Chapter 3 begins by detailing the persecutions that the prophet has suffered at the hands of false teachers and scorners, including broken bones, besieging, isolation, and taunting.  He does not dwell on his misfortunes, however, and turns the attention back to the unfailing steadfastness and mercies of the Lord, saying:

"The Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love" (vs. 31-32).

And later in the chapter, when the prophet calls on the name of the Lord from "the depths of the pit", the Lord comes near to him and reminds him not to fear.  Then the prophet says something that shook me to my very core:

"You have taken up my cause, O Lord; you have redeemed my life."

Wow.  The Lord of the entire universe, who laid the foundation of the earth, caused the dawn to find its place, who knows the way to the dwelling of light, enters the storehouses of the snow on a regular basis, the one whom every creature looks to for life - He has taken up MY cause.  He has saved my life from its spiral of selfishly serving my flesh and my sinful nature and has redeemed it that I may find freedom in being His daughter.  When I think about the implications of this truth, I am truly speechless.  It is so humbling to realize that even when I had nothing to offer Him, no "good" fiber in my being, no nobility or prowess, He chose to invest in my life and call me to His purpose.

The only proper response to this verse in Lamentations is to surrender that redeemed life of mine completely over to the Lord.  The fact that the Lord Himself has taken up my cause and redeemed me means that I owe everything to Him: full allegiance, devotion of every minute of my life, and commitment to follow His commands.  How can I "seek first the kingdom of God" and work to further that kingdom?



How can I take up the cause of my Lord today?  After all, He has taken up mine. 

xoxo
Kinsey