Monday, February 22, 1999
Monday, February 22, 1999
For both the priests and the Levites had purified themselves; all of them were clean.
So they killed the passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests, and for
themselves. It was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile.
(Ezra 6:20-21
NRSV)
Joe invited his friend in, and they went in to the living room to talk about old times. The dog
jumped onto a really nice couch and then when to sleep. Upsetting Joe in the process.
Finally, Ted rose to leave. As he went out the door, Joe asked, "Aren't you forgetting your dog?"
"He's not my dog," Ted replied. "I thought he was yours."
This dog was lost and nobody seemed to want him, and the same was true of the Israelite people
during their exile. In the sixth century B.C., there was only one thing you could say about the
Jews: No one in their condition could ever recover! The Ministry of Pensions in Babylon kept
sending the disability checks. And the Doctors of Theology had already signed the death
certificate. The Jews were a wasted people, shot through the head when Nebuchadnezzar
destroyed the Temple; shot through the arm when he scattered them throughout what's now Iraq
and Iran.
But, God wanted them. Eventually, they came back to Jerusalem and began worshiping God once
again.
God wants us too! Worship the living God!
Ronald Newhouse, Texas, USA
The doorbell rang and Joe answered it, finding his old friend Ted standing next to a very shaggy
and muddy dog.
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for wanting me. Guide me in worshiping you everyday.
Amen.
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