Monday, July 13, 2009
Joel 2:12-16
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
and he relents over disaster.
Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain offering and a drink offering
for the Lord your God?
Blow the trumpet in Zion;
consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
gather the people.
Consecrate the congregation;
assemble the elders;
gather the children,
even nursing infants.
Let the bridegroom leave his room,
and the bride her chamber. (ESV)
by John H. Camenga
Joel emphasized that true repentance is a thing of the heart when he said, “rend your heart, not your garments.” Both the priests and the people seem to have kept outer expressions of change while the heart remained untouched. The book of Hebrews describes us as a royal priesthood. Are our outward expressions of religious enthusiasm genuine reflections of what Christ is doing in our hearts—or are we just going through the motions? The royal priesthood has a duty to lead others to true repentance. Do we understand our doctrine of the priesthood of all believers to include the duty to lead repentance?
Copyright Information
Daily Bible Meditations are taken from The Helping Hand,a Sabbath School student quarterly for youth and adults. Copyright © 2010, Seventh Day Baptist Board of Christian Education, Inc.
Scripture quotations marked "ESV" are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Text provided by the Crossway Bibles Web Service.

