*Note: I realized when we allocated the verses for the Lent Meditations we included Sundays … so this series will have more than 40 meditations thus far. I’ve been slow to post them up. So, today I’ll make sure it catches up first. Sorry if it appears to overwhelm at one go. Anyway, Sherman’s writings are short and to the point. ~ Sivin*
Eze 37.21-28
God’s people had been scattered and even divided into two kingdoms. They were lost, like a herd of cattle without a shepherd. But their loving God confidently proclaimed that he himself would gather them back unto him again, so that they need not be lost anymore. They would then be one nation under God, and the rest of the nations would see that they truly belonged to God (Ezekial 37.21-28).
The entire message of Good Friday and Easter rests on God’s sovereign act of gathering his people unto him; a people who are lost and who have no way of finding their way back into the arms of the loving Father. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ shows us that this act of making a way for people to return to God was not an easy feat. It cost God the life of his Son, not to mention the emotional and physical anguish he had to suffer. Once again, this season of Lent is a reminder that God bids us to return into his arms.
Reflection: Have you found yourself straying away from your relationship with the Lord in the past year? Have the troubles of life interrupted your communion with the Lord? Come back to the Lord in honest prayer now, expressing your real desire to return into his arms. Ask for strength to endure and to keep your faith in this complex and challenging world.
(Meditations by Sherman)