Rend Your Heart

Daily Reading: Joel 1 & 2, Psalm 25

Joel 2:13 "And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil."

Rending a garment is just a symbolic way to show regret or repentance but I believe from this verse that God was tired, and is still tired, of seeing our show of repentance and never seeing our hearts changed. Rend your heart, He says, break your will, bow your desires and passions down at my feet and let me fill what you have emptied. Let me show you who I am...the gracious, forgiving, merciful, loving, kind, compassionate me. I can prove your broken heart is worth repairing, I can fill the void that your desires never could.

He is a good God, but we rarely give Him the chance to do more than answer the prayers for what we desire. We bring Him what we think is noble and try to convince Him of the merits of our passions. He will sometimes oblige these things but He wants so badly to show us more. What could He do for us, to us and in us if we came to Him empty handed? What if we just came to Him with nothing but our praise? What if we knelt down and said..."God, I don't know enough to know what I want...will you just fill me with you today?" Can you imagine what He could do with that? No, you can't imagine...you're not creative enough. I don't care who you are...your mind cannot conceive the good that God has for you!

In verse 25 of the same chapter: "And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you."

Not only does he promise to be merciful (v.13) but he promises to restore. He knows that the desires of the flesh (no matter how noble they are) cannot fulfill and they cannot serve you and comfort you as His desires for you could have. He knows that by the time you come to Him you have missed out on the blessings that He had waiting for you. He does not flaunt them, turn up His nose and say...look what you could have had if you had been a good girl. No...He restores...He gives...He blesses...He offers abundance for our lack and freedom to replace our bondage.

verse 26 "And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed."

Psalm 25:1 & 2 "Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. (2) O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me."

Here again...I lift up my soul to God and put my trust in Him for the gracious reward that never leaves me ashamed.