“I Will, That You May”

“Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and wrath and great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.

“For thus says the Lord: Just as I have brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promise them.” Jeremiah 32:37-42

When God says He will, He means it. His word is fixed, His promises trustworthy. He provides all we need for a life of godliness and choosing Him over any other gods. He does for us so we may in holy fear do for Him. (Psalm 119:89; Titus 2:11-14; 2 Peter 1:3)

This Lord who delivers and makes to dwell safely, who takes us as His own and unites our heart for Him, is worth our fear and following. Yet, we turn. We make light of His promises and commands, we prefer our ways and ideas. We like to play king over our world, and manage decisions and destiny. We fear man more than God, valuing their approval or fearing their reprisal more than His.

What breeds this disloyalty? Insecurity in who we are in Christ? Do we put more weight on personal achievements and others’ affirmation than on the love of Christ written with His blood? If we keep glancing askance between His will and cultural priorities, we will fall. If we fully trust His truth to and about us, we will be firmly established. Which will it be? The Lord issues His covenants to elicit a whole-life response. He delights in us as we take delight in Him.

“Come, thou Fount of every blessing;
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above;
praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
mount of God’s unchanging love!

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I’m come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor
daily I’m constrained to be!
Let that grace now, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here’s my heart; O take and seal it;
seal it for thy courts above.” ~Robert Robinson (1758)

Lord, may I use the freedom You’ve won and given to fear and serve You with my whole heart and soul, to Your honor and praise.