What is Good?

Jesus’ Ministry
February 11, 2019

Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 17:5-10

Thus says the Lord:
Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals
   and make mere flesh their strength,
   whose hearts turn away from the Lord.
They shall be like a shrub in the desert,
   and shall not see when relief comes.
They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness,
   in an uninhabited salt land. –Jeremiah 17:5-6

Jeremiah does not paint an attractive picture of life without the Lord. If hunger and drought and disease is all we know we may not recognize relief when it comes. I saw a poignant scene on TV recently. A starving child from Yemen in the arms of a relief worker trying to feed the child a tube full of nutrients designed to alleviate starvation. The little one shut his mouth tightly and pushed it away because every time he had swallowed it earlier it made him vomit. His stomach had not functioned properly for so long it did not react appropriately when fed.

Of course, Jeremiah is addressing adults who have chosen to stray from the Lord and in the final verse of this scripture he writes,
I the Lord test the mind
   and search the heart,
to give to all according to their ways,
   according to the fruit of their doings.

What did the child in the relief workers arms do to deserve not knowing what was good for him? All of us stand guilty when we do not take care of the little ones as Jesus said in Matthew 18:6 ‘If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea.

Doing justice means going the extra mile for those who never learned of God’s good.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we have blinders on regarding the needs of others who may have no knowledge of your love including being loved in real terms such as food and health care. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.