After a long break we start the eDevs again. We're going to carry on picking up some nuggets from Jeremiah.
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23 "Am I only a God nearby,"
declares the LORD,
"and not a God far away?
24 Can anyone hide in secret places
so that I cannot see him?"
declares the LORD.
"Do not I fill heaven and earth?"
declares the LORD. Jeremiah23:23-24
For most of us the question is not if God is a far away God, but if He is a God who is near! For us, the question is "Does God care?" for Jeremiah the question was "Is God able?"
Jeremiah lived in a world where the "effectiveness" of a nation's god was measured by their military success and divine "turf wars." If your nation was defeated by another nation and you were taken into exile into their god's "turf" was there any way that your nation's god could be with you? To contemporary answer was "No way!"
God brings an amazing comfort to Jeremiah: No distance and no circumstance can prevent God from being with His people. He is not a local god confined to Palestine or a Jerusalem temple. His plans are not effected by the unfaithfulness of people or the schemes of nations.
Although Jerusalem and the temple have been destroyed and although Israel's leaders are in exile in Babylon, Yahweh (the Hebrew name for the God of Israel) is not a local or limited God. He is the God of the near and far.
Even when we have hidden in the secret places of sin and failure He can see us and He can save us. He does care - He sent His Son for us and that is what we celebrated at Christmas. And He is able to save us - no matter how far we have wandered - He is the God of far away too!
This is awesome comfort for 2011. Not only does He care, but when we were far from Him - He came to us! As He fills heaven and earth, may He fill your and my 2011!
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Theo Groeneveld theo@gracepresby.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
