Devotions

Rev Gav

Listen

Baruch 1.15–end

And you shall say: The Lord our God is in the right, but there is open shame on us today, on the people of Judah, on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on our kings, our rulers, our priests, our prophets, and our ancestors, because we have sinned before the Lord.

We have disobeyed him, and have not heeded the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in the statutes of the Lord that he set before us.

From the time when the Lord brought our ancestors out of the land of Egypt until today, we have been disobedient to the Lord our God, and we have been negligent, in not heeding his voice.

So to this day there have clung to us the calamities and the curse that the Lord declared through his servant Moses at the time when he brought our ancestors out of the land of Egypt to give to us a land flowing with milk and honey.

We did not listen to the voice of the Lord our God in all the words of the prophets whom he sent to us, but all of us followed the intent of our own wicked hearts by serving other gods and doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord our God.

Reflect

Actions have consequences.

Baruch was a friend of the Prophet Jeremiah and a scribe who wrote down Jeremiah’s prophecies. He is also the attributed author of the Book of Baruch which begins with a confession of Israel’s failings and how their actions had wrought upon them severe consequences to which he refers as ‘calamities’ and a ‘curse’.

The thing with prophets (like those found in the Old Testament) is they didn’t so much tell the future as explain the benefits and consequences of different courses of action. For example, if you heed God then ABC will happen and if you reject God then XYZ will happen.

In the same way we have modern day prophets, for example those that speak about climate change. If we continue to burn fossil fuels then ABC will happen, and if we reduce our carbon emissions XYZ will happen.

Recently, President Trump, while addressing the UN, criticised the use of renewable energy and challenged the scientific consensus on climate change. His performance reminded me that the loudest voices are not always the ones to which we should be listening!

We have a mandate from God to care for creation. It’s not why we were created but it is something we are called to do. Creation Care and ‘heeding the voice of God’ cannot be separated.

Therefore, we fail to listen to the words of modern-day prophets at our peril, for if they are wrong then we have nothing to worry about, abut if they are right we have everything to worry about.

Pray

Holy God
Thank you for those
who are called to be
modern-day prophets
to the nations —
the scientists, researchers
and academics
who present to us
the consequences of our
lifestyles and policies.
May we listen
to their words,
heed your voice,
and change our ways.
This day and forever.