READING: Lamentations 3:37-5:22
“My eyes flow with streams of tears.”
Lamentations 3:38
I have spent time with missionaries who simply weep over the people group they are called to reach. They’ve given their lives to get the gospel where it has not gone, and they lose sleep over the sin around them.
I’ve been with church leaders and institutional administrators who weep over fallen members of their staff or faculty.
I’ve walked beside parents and grandparents whose hearts are so broken over wayward offspring that they can barely speak; all they can do is cry.
I’ve been with pastors and community leaders who get on their knees before God, weeping because of the sin, poverty, and destruction in their city.
I’ve ministered to children and teenagers who can do nothing but cry when their parents announce a divorce because of one parent’s sin.
And, many times I’ve read about Jeremiah the prophet’s grief over fallen Jerusalem, summarized with these words: “My eyes flow with streams of tears because of the destruction of my dear people. My eyes overflow unceasingly, without end, until the Lord looks down from heaven and sees. My eyes bring me grief because of the fate of all the women in my city” (Lam. 3:48-51). The prophet could only grieve when he saw the destruction of the city. He could only weep as he sought God’s intervention for the city, and he likely exhorted others to join him in that grief.
So, I think of all the tears represented in the stories listed above, and I again wonder how much I genuinely grieve over the effects of sin . . . whether in my life or in the lives of others.
ACTION STEPS:
- Pay attention today to the destructiveness of sin around you. Don’t grow numb to it.
- Pick one person living in sin, and commit to praying for him or her until God brings repentance and freedom.
PRAYER: “God, break my heart again over sin around me, beginning with mine.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Ezekiel 1-4
