HEELCATCHER

²⁴He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. ²⁵For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. (1 Peter 2:24-25)

When Jesus was on the cross, He bore my sins. He carried them. Every stubborn, foolish, stupid, selfish thought, decision, and action I have every made was placed on Jesus. He bore them all…all mine, all yours. It is a wild thought. I wasn’t even born yet. My great-great-great-great grandfather wasn’t even thought of yet. But Jesus bore my sins. They are paid for. They are covered. There is, therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). Wow. I no longer have to live in guilt or fear. My sins…all of them…are forgiven.

Why did Jesus do this? Out of love. To save us from eternal condemnation. And Peter says, “…So that we might die to sins and live for righteousness.” Jesus saved us from sin…not only to give us eternal life but also to free us from the bondage and deception of sin in this life and enable us to live in righteousness.

We are so deceived. Deep down we still think that sin has some good elements to it. It is fun, enticing, exciting. Let the eyes linger a little longer. What’s the harm? Let the thought circulate in the mind a little longer. It doesn’t hurt anyone. We flirt with sin all the time because we have no idea how ugly it is, how deceptive it is, how destructive it is. Jesus says, “Look at my beaten body. Look at my stripes. Look at my pain. Look at my disfigurement. This is what sin does to your soul. Look at me and then live for righteousness.”

Imagine it this way…we were in massive debt. We had creditors everywhere. We had people knocking on our door ready to take everything from us. Every wage we had ever earned or would ever earn was going into a bottomless bucket of debt. We had no hope of escaping the hole. In fact, with every day, the hole got deeper and deeper. We were stressed, depressed, and hopeless. Death seemed like a better option than life. Then a relative came to our house one day and, out of love, offered to pay everything off. He sacrificed all he had to pay every one of our creditors off. When he was done, he turned to us and said, “You are totally free from debt. Now go live in freedom.”

Only a fool would turn around and go right back to spending recklessly. Only someone who had no idea of the bondage of debt or no sense of the love of the sacrificing relative would take advantage of this situation to selfishly spend more. Instead a wise person, a truly grateful person, a humbled person would deeply love and appreciate the sacrifice of the relative, celebrate the freedom, and live responsibly (avoiding debt) and generously (sharing the blessings that they had received).

That is what Jesus has done for us.

Now that we have returned to the Shepherd, to the Lover and Guardian of our souls, we should no longer seek to go astray.

Thank You, Lord, for the freedom of forgiveness! May I live in gratitude, joy, and generosity today. 

I finished reading the book of Jonah today and was again struck by the final chapter.

9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?”

“I do,” he said. “I am angry enough to die.”

10 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?” (Jonah 4:9-10)

I am so thankful that Jonah is in the Bible. It is such a clear reminder of God’s grace and faithfulness and our grumpiness and fickleness.

Jonah is upset. In fact, this chapter could be subtitled, “Jonah’s Anger at God” or “Jonah’s Pity Party.” Why is he so upset? Because God is gracious, compassionate, patient, and loving toward the sinful (4:1-3). That sort of strikes us as ironic. In our society, people are normally more upset with God’s justice and wrath. But our context is different than Jonah’s. We are blessed to be in a free country that is prosperous, secure, and relatively peaceful. We can’t imagine being in a small country surrounded by enemies who are powerful, cruel, unrestrained, and eager to take us out. That was the Assyrians. And Jonah had heard of their cruelty and was ready to see them destroyed. Perhaps we could compare Jonah to a victim of a crime who would rather see their perpetrators condemned, skinned, and hanged than forgiven.

In other words, his anger is real…and in his mind, very justified.

But God keeps coming back with a simple question…Do you have a right to be angry?

What a powerful question. In our times of anger, we are usually unwilling to listen or consider what is going on in the depths of our heart. We would rather stew. There is something oddly comforting about anger. It makes us feel powerful…like we are doing something about injustice…that we have a right to complain about life, disregard others, and even stew at God.

But God doesn’t attack Jonah…or lecture him…or give up on him. Instead, He simply asks a question. Do you have a right to be angry?

Jonah is not in the mood for self-reflection so God teaches him through an object lesson. First God allows a little plant to grow up over Jonah’s head and provide him temporal relief from the heat. Then the next day He appoints a little worm to eat the plant and cause it to die. And then God brings about a scorching wind on a hot day to really get Jonah’s sweat flowing and anger stirring again. Jonah is so upset and so stuck in self-pity that he wishes to die. He is probably not serious about wanting God to end his life but have you ever gotten to the point that you said those kind of words to others or to God?

“Hey God, if you are going to treat me like this, why don’t You go ahead and kill me too? What are You waiting for? You don’t seem to care about my misery so why not just end it all?”

Anger, complaining, and self-pity are not our finest traits. They make us irrational, miserable, and generally unpleasant to be around. But for some reason we seem to find comfort in such pitiful, self-focused moods. Nobody loves me…nobody cares about me…nobody has it as bad as me…and on top of that, God has given me the short end of the stick…

And God asks again. Do you have a right to be angry?

Jonah was upset about his personal comfort. He was upset that life was not going as he wanted. He was upset that God did not run the universe like Jonah thought He should. And God gently speaks to his heart and says, “You are so upset about the withering of a little vine that gave temporary shade to your head but don’t have a bit of concern about the lives of 120,000 people who are ignorant of My holiness and grace. Aren’t there bigger things in life than your personal comfort?”

It is a gentle stab at Jonah’s heart. And the book ends there. Why?

Because God intends it to be a gentle stab at my heart too.

Am I really upset that I hit two stop lights this morning? That traffic made me five minutes late for work? That my football team lost? That my boys can’t seem to get in line with my agenda? That my coffee is too hot? That my food is too bland? That my vacation is too short? That my bank account is too small? That I am not getting my way?

Is my life really that petty?

Praise God that He understands my heart and still extends grace to His pouting servant. I know I need it.

But just like Jonah, God isn’t content to leave me in my self-pity and anger but calls me to grow a little more gracious, a little more compassionate, a little more patient, a little more loving, a little bit more like Him each day.

Wow, where do you start with Daniel 9? It is probably the most prophetically rich chapter in the whole Bible. In fact, one Bible scholar called Daniel 9 “the backbone of prophecy.” The prophecy of seventy weeks (9:24-27) provides a timeline for world history and confirms that the prophetic clock centers on Israel. As Dr. Ben Albert taught us last year at CBC, “When it comes to biblical prophecy, watch Israel.”

But the part of Daniel 9 that catches my attention this morning is Daniel’s prayer. It is a model for us as we pray for our own nation today. I like what John Walvoord said about Daniel’s prayer:

While God honors the briefest of prayers, as the experience of Nehemiah 2:4 indicates, effective prayer requires faith in the Word of God, proper attitude of mind and heart, privacy, and unhurried confession and petition. Daniel’s humility, reverence, and earnestness are the hallmarks of effective prayer.

What basic points can we learn from Daniel’s prayer?

1. Effective prayer begins with God’s Word. Daniel was actually reading Jeremiah’s prophecy in 25:11-12 when he was compelled to pray. Jeremiah had prophesied that Israel would go into captivity in Babylon for 70 years. Daniel had been in Babylon for 67 years at this time (so he is probably 80-85 years old) so he realizes that the end of the prophecy is near. This realization drives him to his knees.

God speaks through His Word. Daniel responds in prayer. This is a great example to us. Sometimes we don’t know how to pray. If we begin to see prayer as a response to God’s Word then we can gain guidance in our prayer life. Start off the day reading God’s Word and then pray back to God the things that He teaches you through His Word. God speaks. We respond.

2. Effective prayer must flow out of our hearts. Prayer is not mechanical. Certainly there are times that we pray when we don’t necessarily feel like praying. But even in those times, prayer should be a reflection of the burdens and concerns of our hearts. As Charles Spurgeon once said, “Our prayers are often cold because our hearts are cold.” When Daniel reads God’s Word about Israel, here was his response: I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes, and I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession… (9:3-4a).

Daniel was serious. He did not have to be cajoled into prayer; it was the automatic response of his heart. He was so broken and burdened for his nation that he dropped to his knees and pleaded for God’s mercy. I wonder why I don’t pray that fervently for our nation. It probably begins with the load of distractions that divert my passion and numb my heart. Lord, renew the hunger in my soul for You and Your glory.

3. Effective prayer acknowledges God’s holiness and our sin. Daniel spends the first half of his prayer confessing the sin of his nation. We have sinned…we have rebelled…we have ignored Your word…we deserve to be ashamed…we have been unfaithful…we have not obeyed Your word…we have no excuse. Daniel did not point the finger at other people. He included himself in his prayer. Though Daniel had been faithful to the Lord, in his heart he still knew that he was not blameless. He was also part of the problem.

It is too easy for us to point the finger and blame the woes of our nation on a host of other people. We will never know effective prayer if we don’t see the sin in our hearts, if we are not broken over our own sin, our own unfaithfulness. The problem with America does not start with them…it starts with me.

4. Effective prayer asks God to act based on His glory and righteousness not our comfort and preferences. Daniel has specific requests for God. Let Your anger be turned away…hear my prayer…cause Your face to shine on Your temple…incline Your ear to me…see our desolations. Hear, Lord! Forgive! Listen! Act! Do not delay!

Daniel’s prayer is both humble and bold. He pleads for God’s mercy and asks for quick action. And the basis of his prayer is not “because of our righteous deeds but because of Your great mercies” (9:18). God wants us to ask. He wants us to come boldly before His throne. But He also wants us to ask in humility with a passion for His glory not just a desire to get what we want so that life will be easier for us.

When it comes to praying for our nation, we should be bold. We should be specific. But we should also examine our hearts and ask, “Why do I want what I am asking? Is it because I want to see God’s glory manifested and His gospel proclaimed? Or is it because I simply don’t want to face difficulty and I want life to be more comfortable for me?” Certainly none of us want to go through trials or difficulties but if the bulk of our prayers are centered on our own comfort then we shouldn’t expect God to answer. It is when we delight ourselves in the Lord that He gives us the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4). It is in seeking His kingdom first and foremost that all these other things are added unto us (Matthew 6:33).

Lord, I realize that my heart is so far from the heart of Daniel. Grow me. Deepen my faith. Clarify my focus. Renew my love. Give me a passion for Your glory.

We are less than three weeks from a major election in our nation. Keep reading through Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9 and let it be a guide for you as you pray for our own nation the next 19 days.