Joel 2:18-32
Friday, 15 July 2022
And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD will be delivered... -Joel 2:32
The main thrust of Chapter 2 of the Book of Joel is a call to turn to God through repentance and fasting. Joel 2:12 – “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “Return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping and mourning…..” Further in Vs.15 it says, “Blow the trumpet in Zion, consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly...” In the first half of the chapter the call for repentance, fasting and turning to God is emphasized, but in the second half, God’s response to that action and His promises are given.
Why was God so interested in their lives despite their waywardness and rebellion? It was because they were His own special people with whom He had covenanted! In Exodus 19:5 God told them “Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples...” In Deuteronomy 4:20, Moses made it very clear “But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, from Egypt, to be people for His own possession, as today.” Though they entered into a covenant with God, they broke their part of it over and over again. Yet God did not break His Word and His love and mercy pursued them! Psalm 30:5 says, “For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime…” When His people return in repentance, He delivers, restores and blesses them again.
Remember as a believer, we have been covenanted with Him. Christ Jesus in instituting the New Covenant through His blood spoke of it in the Last Supper with His disciples: “…for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:28). When a person accepts Christ’s death on his behalf as a penalty for the sins he has committed, his sins are forgiven and he enters into a new covenant with God through Christ! The New Covenant not only holds our redemption but our eternal security in our Saviour!
It is very relevant for us too, to take stock of our lives and see where we are. Are our lives in a sorry or broken state today because we have walked away from God? If we have grieved our Lord in sin or run away like the prodigal, making light of His grace, let there be a weeping, mourning and a decision to return to Him in repentance. 1 John 1: 9 [GNT] reminds us: “But if we confess our sins to God, he will keep his promise and do what is right: he will forgive us our sins and purify us from all our wrongdoing.” He will surely restore us! If you are going through some rough rides in life, remember He is a God of Covenant and will deliver you!
God has His best for us on His heart and wants us to enjoy living with Him in that covenant relationship so that the outworking of His plan for each of our lives will bloom. Would you dear brother/sister yield to Him to mould you? If you have run away from His love, today He is beckoning you back to Him to respond in repentance and honour the Blood of the Covenant by which you entered into a covenant with Him! Call on His name and be delivered!
To Act on: “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord…” (Acts 3:19)