Isaiah 58:9b — If you take away the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
Jesus said that His yoke was easy. There are yokes people can try to throw on us that are anything but easy. Shame or scorn would be one of those. Shame is one of the most disheartening things a person can face. Shame is the obvious spot you cannot wash out. Too many people feel like they are disgraced — persona non grata — separated from grace. If there is no grace for me, then what hope is there? If grace is not possible for me, why should I even try, or work at, my relationship with God or others? This is not about avoiding feelings of guilt for sinning or the ways I fall short in how I walk my relationship out with God and others. This is not about deceiving myself into thinking God is not concerned with my sin. This is about not feeling like I am beyond help or hope.
Jesus said that every sin is forgivable except “blaspheming the Holy Spirit.” We tend to get hung up on the one that can’t be forgiven instead of the fact everything else can be. It’s like the one tree in the garden of Eden that cannot be eaten from when everything else is fine. And yet, we are tempted to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. When I point the finger at others, what tree am I eating from? When I point the finger at myself, what tree am I eating from? When I allow others to impact me when they point their finger at me, what tree am I eating from? I need to eat from the Tree of Life. I need to share the fruit of the Tree of Life. I need to know there is grace from God and share God’s grace.
Vain/empty/wicked speech also comes from eating the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It’s not simply the pointing of the finger in their face; it’s how I talk about them behind their back. It’s how I argue points of the Law instead of the truths of grace. They are empty words that neither exalt God nor elevate people. God takes me out of the miry clay and sets my feet upon a rock; how does my speech reveal that? Do I speak in such a way as to keep people mired in the clay of their earthly existence or do I speak words that will draw them into the presence of God so that He can bring them out? If I speak mire to myself, how can I speak otherwise to others. I love my neighbour in the same way that I love myself. I must speak the truth in love to myself and others. Not just the truth but love. Jesus came full of truth and grace.
Lord, may I be a conveyor of Your grace. May my speech and actions convey Your love. Help me to live in the light of Your love and grace, otherwise I will not be able to bring it to others.
[Also meditate on: Ps. 40:1-8; Mark 3:28-29; John 1:14-17; Eph. 4:11-16; 2 Tim. 2:14-16; Titus 3:9; Jas. 2:8-13]
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