THE LORD SPOKE (October 15)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Jeremiah 8-10

Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns,
but will not encourage us to mistake them for home.
C.S. Lewis

Oh, that I had in the desert a lodging place for travelers,
so that I might leave my people and go away from them.
Jeremiah 9:2

Lewis was happy for a get-away and the Prophet Jeremiah wished he had one. Actually, the two are not talking about the same thing but there is a valid connection to be made. And an application for your busy life.

The “pleasant inns” that Lewis speaks of are the lodgings that God allows us to enjoy along life’s way. It doesn’t have to be a fancy home. In some cases it might even be, but it doesn’t have to be. Just a quiet spot where we can retreat, relax, and be refreshed for the on-going journey. “A man’s home is his castle,” so they say, and God does often allow us to enjoy some pleasant inns. It might be a nice home or it might be as simple as a rather humble home with an old chair that fits us perfectly and provides that comfortable refuge at the end of a weary day. It could be a sun-bathed corner of the house or yard where you can get alone and let the world go on by while your soul catches up with your body. It can be any combination of comfortable surroundings that allows you to enjoy life while here on this earth.

At first glance, Jeremiah’s sigh might sound like he wishes he had a little guest house to offer hospitality to weary travelers. No - he’s wishing he had a quiet place for himself where he could get away from people and the cares of life for awhile. His desired way-side inn is a refuge from a busy life, a place where he could run and hide. We need those too. It’s a different sort of refuge where we can retreat, relax, and be refreshed for the on-going journey.

But, in both cases, we need to be reminded that this life and all its current cares are temporary. What we experience now is just getting us ready for what is yet to come so we shouldn’t get too comfortable. We are preparing and being prepared for another place. Though we’re in this world, we’re not of this world and we need to live with eternity’s values in view.

This world is not my home - I’m just a passin’ through.
My treasures are laid up, somewhere beyond the blue.
The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door,
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.

Is that true for you or do you feel a little too comfortable in this world?


Psalms 57-58

For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
Let your glory be over all the earth.
Psalm 57:10-11

The love of God is beyond description. Every particle of love that we have ever seen, or felt, or experienced in any way has had its source in God’s love. Out of His character and this divine attribute comes any knowledge we might possess of what is love. Worldly definitions fall flat and even our most noble attempts to express love are mere shadows by comparison, and very feeble.

In another place, David returns to this theme, using these words:

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse, nor will He harbor His anger forever;
He does not treat us as our sins deserve
Or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
So great is His love for those who fear Him.
Psalm 103:8-11

So let the love of God wash over you. Bathe in the warmth of its light. Trust in Him for those trials you are facing. Do not let your gaze be diverted; look to Him and let His love lift you up.

The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.

Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
The saints’ and angels’ song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.