YouVersion Reformation Reading Plan, day 310

Mark 11 §

Jesus has ordained the colt to be ready at the necessary time. He has ordained that the bystanders will question unknown men walking off with said colt. And He has ordained that the disciples obey his words to the letter in their answer. It never ceases to amaze me that God ordained us and our actions into His plan. What happens if the disciples dither, or answer in arrogance, or strike the rock instead of speaking to it (Numbers 20:11)? What happens if we don’t open our mouths, or we don’t bridle our tongues (James 1:26), or we don’t season our speech with salt (Colossians 4:6)? God’s will is not contingent on our obedience (water still comes from the rock), but our place in His work is (Numbers 20:12).

Lamentations 1 §

Jerusalem is still a ruin.

Lamentations 2 §

“Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the night watches!
Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord!
Lift your hands to him for the lives of your children,
who faint for hunger at the head of every street.”

Lamentations 2:19

Can there be anything more terrible than to hear your children cry in hunger? When we were expecting our first child, I had a nightmare that a war had broken out, and I and the infant were separated from the mother. There was no formula (indeed, very little food), and I was reduced to crushing up Cheetos and mixing the dust into water to have something, anything, to give my child. The dread of that dream kept me awake for days when I first had it. I’ve never had it again, yet even years later just the idea of Cheetos brings me nearly to tears. The people of the world cry out in hunger, physically and spiritually. I would die to give my children rich spiritual milk (I Peter 2:2) — and solid food (Hebrews 5:12) — and not the dust of this world.

Lamentations 3 §

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end.

Lamentations 3:21-22