Footprints

Good Sunday to all. I hope everyone was aware that today was the start of day light savings time. Waine and I slept right through it. None-the-less it's a beautiful spring day Waine and I are enjoying it thoroughly. I am reminded every day of God's good grace and mercy. I am reminded daily that God has a plan for my life and Heaven and Hell will not be able to stop it.

I am continuing my journey in Jeremiah 22: 18-30 "Therefore this is what the LORD says about Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: They will not mourn for him: Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister! They will not mourn for him: Alas, my master! Alas, his splendor! He will have the burial of a donkey— dragged away and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem. Go up to Lebanon and cry out, let your voice be heard in Bashan, cry out from Abarim, for all your allies are crushed. I warned you when you felt secure,  but you said, ‘I will not listen!’ This has been your way from your youth;  you have not obeyed me.  The wind will drive all your shepherds away, and your allies will go into exile. Then you will be ashamed and disgraced because of all your wickedness. You who live in ‘Lebanon, who are nestled in cedar buildings, how you will groan when pangs come upon you, pain like that of a woman in labor! As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “even if you, Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off. I will deliver you into the hands of those who want to kill you, those you fear—Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Babylonians. I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another country, where neither of you was born, and there you both will die. You will never come back to the land you long to return to. Is this man Jehoiachin a despised, broken pot,  an object no one wants? Why will he and his children be hurled out, cast into a land they do not know? O land, land, land, hear the Word of the LORD! This is what the LORD says: Record this man as if childless, a man who will not prosper in his lifetime, for none of his offspring will prosper, none will sit on the throne of David or rule anymore in Judah." Amen. May the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word.

I believe what God is admonishing Israel to do is to think about its legacy. What evidence did they want to leave behind as the proof that they were the children of the Promise. Throughout Jeremiah, God has pleaded with Israel to turn from their practice of worshipping idols and return to Him. They however have remained disobedient and now not only is their future at stake, the future of their legacy and the future of their children is at stake. One of the things that Waine and I take great pride in is that our children and grandchildren are the evidence that we walked this earth. Not to have that legacy would be disturbing to us. However, not to have a legacy with God would be  more disturbing. My spiritual footprint is more important to me than my physical footprint. I want a legacy with God. I want my name in His book and I want Him to call me as part of His tribe today. As a member of His tribe I am called upon to be in obedience to His commandments - to love Him with all my heart, mind and soul and then to love you as He has loved me. In so doing I am in obedience to His Will and then am truly in the path of Grace and Mercy. 

Where is your footprint today. If He took you across the River Jordan today what foot print would you leave? What foot print would I leave?

Now may the LORD bless you and keep you; may the LORD make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; may the LORD turn His face toward you and give you peace. Amen.

Stephanie