Today's Readings and Stuff -- Thursday, 17 October 2019

A good Thursday to all.  We're home-bound again:  Wife continues the illness that has been her lot all week long.  Yesterday, she was making noises about calling the doctor and trying to wangle an appointment for today.  This morning, she decided that, while she is still feeling awful, we will push the matter off until our regularly-scheduled appointment on the coming Tuesday (which also is the scheduled day for her SS Disability check to go into the bank).  That is the day after the scheduled appointment with her endocrinologist, way down in the county south of us.  Just part of the pattern of our  life.  It does exert a strong temptation to an attitude of hopelessness, which I am genetically predisposed to fall into.  My Catholic friends believe that Despair is a sin, and perhaps they are right in so believing.

Does anyone else get into a sort of weird world in that half awake -- half dream state (percentages approximate) before rising for the day??  Again, I am prone to that, just one of my own personal weirdnesses.
What is really important to us?
What matters, really?
Are our efforts. our attention, our emphases in line with that?
Really?
Does it show?
Does the Lord agree?
Do we care?

I am at the point in life where I know all too well how quickly it can all come crashing down.  Been through what I consider to have been more than my fair share of such moments, but probably most people secretly harbor such a belief.  What will I leave as a legacy?  How is the world a different place, hopefully for the better, as a result of my time here?
We are reminded of the inhabitants of the city of Babel, who determined to erect a monument to themselves.  Didn't turn out well.  There are several large cemeteries near us, headstones and plinths with dates going back to the 1800's.  I've been in some in the US even older.  Names of persons long passed, and who knows their real effect?  Well, of course, the Lord knows, and that is crucial.  The rest of us?  I don't know.  I will not have even that grave marker:  Wife and I will be cremated and the ashes dumped some where.  That's OK, though some may regard that in dismay.
Looking at my life, looking at the world around us, where have our attentions and focus been?  Is the Lord really impressed by the approval of our neighbors over a flower bed?  Does He really care about our enthusiasm for a football team?  Our involvement in a local hot dog shop?  Our fashion sense?  The size of our TV screen?  Or any of the many many things that occupy our attention, crowding Him out?  Somehow, one doubts it.
And at what point have such matters become our idols, gaining our adoration, what approximates our worship?
Are we (meaning me) really acting out what we say is our calling?
I am not saying that cheering when the local school team wins is evil, or that the effort we put into our jobs are, presuming that our job isn't in deliberate furtherance of evil.  But are we really acting out our faith?
Hard questions to ponder while in the dark staring at the back of one's eyelids.


And, yet, "I Will Trust In Thee". 
Can we sing this, no matter what?

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Today in the Old Testament, chapters 29 and 30 in Jeremiah.
In the midst of the catastrophe that, deservedly, fell upon the nation, a reminder from the Lord that a better day is coming, that His eye was still upon them.  No matte what.  That is worth quite a lot.

Jeremiah 29

1Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon;

2(After that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem;)

3By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon) saying,

4Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon;

5Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;

6Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.

7And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.

8For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.

9For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the Lord.

10For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

11For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

12Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

13And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

14And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

15Because ye have said, The Lord hath raised us up prophets in Babylon;

16Know that thus saith the Lord of the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and of all the people that dwelleth in this city, and of your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity;

17Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.

18And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them:

19Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the Lord.

20Hear ye therefore the word of the Lord, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon:

21Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, which prophesy a lie unto you in my name; Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes;

22And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon, saying, The Lord make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;

23Because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours' wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and am a witness, saith the Lord.

24Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,

25Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all the people that are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying,

26The Lord hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest, that ye should be officers in the house of the Lord, for every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in prison, and in the stocks.

27Now therefore why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, which maketh himself a prophet to you?

28For therefore he sent unto us in Babylon, saying, This captivity is long: build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

29And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet.

30Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying,

31Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus saith the Lord concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite; Because that Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he caused you to trust in a lie:

32Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have a man to dwell among this people; neither shall he behold the good that I will do for my people, saith the Lord; because he hath taught rebellion against the Lord.

Jeremiah 30

1The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

2Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.

3For, lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.

4And these are the words that the Lord spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.

5For thus saith the Lord; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.

6Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?

7Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

8For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him:

9But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.

10Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.

11For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.

12For thus saith the Lord, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous.

13There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines.

14All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased.

15Why criest thou for thine affliction? thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee.

16Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.

17For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.

18Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwellingplaces; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof.

19And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.

20Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them.

21And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the Lord.

22And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

23Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked.

24The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return, until he have done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it.

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Next, chapter 6 in the Ecclesiastes.

Ecclesiastes 6

1There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men:

2A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.

3If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.

4For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.

5Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other.

6Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?

7All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.

8For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living?

9Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.

10That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it is man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he.

11Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what is man the better?

12For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?

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and chapter 4 in the Epistle to the Hebrews.
I am very fond of this epistle, perhaps you are as well.  This is Good Stuff, indeed.

Hebrews 4

1Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

2For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

3For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

4For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.

5And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.

6Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:

7Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

8For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.

9There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

10For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

11Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

12For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

13Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

14Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

15For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

16Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.