My mother was a sewer. My mother-in-law was a professional sewer. My wife is a sewer. I am not. However, one thing I have learned is that I must never discard anything that contains cloth without first giving my wife a chance to scavenge any remnants of cloth that may prove useful to her.
In Deuteronomy 28:62-63 (ESV), God says, “Whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, you shall be left few in number, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God. And as the Lord took delight in doing you good and multiplying you, so the Lord will take delight in bringing ruin upon you and destroying you. And you shall be plucked off the land that you are entering to take possession of it.”
Reading Deuteronomy, chapter 28, is tough. It’s the chapter that has all those curses God establishes against God’s chosen people if they fell back into their old ways or gave themselves to false gods and worldly ways. This is serious stuff, and it eventually came upon the Israelites because they didn’t remain vigilant in keeps God’s commandments.
The promised destruction did fall upon God’s chosen people, and they were scattered across the face of Earth. However, God always keeps a remnant of his people – “…You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number…”
Time after time, God’s “called” people have fallen back into sin and apostasy. Nevertheless, there are always a few that keep the Faith even in His most fierce judgment. As God said in 1 Kings 19:18, “Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” God is speaking of a remnant.
Let me ask this, do we want to be God’s remnant or God’s target? There is forgiveness for our sins through Jesus, our Savior. Even so, a time is coming for God’s wrath (i.e., anger, rage, fury) to be poured out on the world. We don’t know when that will happen, but everyone knows that there will be a day when death will call their name. Everyone has been given a binary choice, serve Jesus, or serve the world; there are no other options.
A remnant or a target, that’s the question; we need to choose wisely.
Photo by Hermes Rivera on Unsplash