Blow the Trumpet

"I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten--

You will have plenty to eat, until you are full,

and you will praise the name of the LORD your God,

who has worked wonders for you;

never again will my people be shamed.

Then you will know that I am in Israel,

that I am the LORD your God,

and that there is no other;

never again will my people be shamed."

Joel 2:25a,26,27

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away."

"Breakfast of Champions"

"Every kiss begins with Kay"

"It takes a licking and keeps on ticking."

A good advertising slogan contains a call to action; a challenge to test the product at it's producer's word.  A dare to see if what they say is true.  After seeing the claim, I want to improve my health so I vow to eat my daily serving of apples.  I want to prove that I am a champion by eating Wheaties or I give a gift of jewelry so I can receive the inevitable kiss or I buy the watch that can handle all the abuse I can dish out.  I am inspired to do something.

God sent many prophets to deliver to His people a call to action.  It did not, however, come in the form of slick advertising campaigns.  Instead, He simply exhorted His people to, "Blow the trumpet in Zion." (Joel 2:15)  He said to send a summons to all those who call upon His Name that now is the time to back our words up with deeds.   

Now is the time for action.  Now is the time to turn our hearts back to God and become fully absorbed by Him.  Or as Oswald Chambers says, now is the time "to live and move and have our being in God, to look at everything in relation to God, because the abiding consciousness of God pushes itself to the front all the time." 

"Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD?" (Psalm 25:12) The trumpet is sounding.

Restored

God is a just and holy God.  His judgment is merciful and fair; He only gives what is need to bring me back in a right relationship with Him.  The astounding reality of God is that He is both righteous and merciful. . . all at the same time.  So, the same God who hands down punishment will also pick up the pieces after the time of discipline is over.  

Nowhere is this more evident than in the gospel.  God's own righteousness requires that my sin earns death.  Because of my disobedience to God's perfect law, I am under a death sentence. But, since He is also a merciful and loving God, He saved me from His own judgement by sending Jesus to take my punishment.  I am saved by God, from God.  

This gives me hope.  Even when I stray far away and God has to bring out the big guns to get my attention, He promises to repair any damage done by His act of judgement.  

For instance, when the people of God were turning their backs on Him during the time of the prophet Joel, God sent a plague of locusts to destroy the land of Judah.  If that were the extent of the message, it would be pretty dismal indeed.  God, however, is a God of hope.  And He wants to encourage His beloved people with the thought that once the punishment was over, God would re-establish the fruitfulness once enjoyed by His people.

If I am suffering through a time of drought, I can be assured that the life-giving rain will return.  If I am in the middle of reaping the pain of the hurtful seeds I sowed, I can know without a doubt that God will put the broken pieces back together.  If I am going through a lonely time of worry or sickness, I can trust that God will nurse me back to health.

Responding to the call to action and committing my life to God through faith in Jesus Christ means my wounds will be bound, my broken heart will be healed, and my faith, restored.

Reinstated   

Recently, a meat clerk at a grocery store chain jumped from behind the counter to come to the defense of a pregnant woman who was being kicked by her boyfriend.  He was promptly suspended from his position by his employer on the grounds of a zero-tolerance policy for workplace violence.  After customers boycotted the store in protest, however, the company reinstated him to his former position.  This is the kind of worker I think any business owner would be proud to support.  Sometimes, however, our human sense of justice is out of balance.

In contrast, God never acts unjustly.  If a sentence is handed down and carried out, I can be sure I deserved what was coming to me.  God is always concerned, however, with His good name.  Just as I can't help but lower my sense of regard for the particular grocery store chain that took the unfair action in the above example, if God continually acted in an unfair way toward His people then He would become an object of the world's scorn and mockery.   People may begin to wonder what kind of God would treat His people this way.

For this reason, God blesses obedience.  When I fall out of line, I can expect discipline for, "The LORD disciplines those he loves." (Proverbs 3:12)  When I come back to Him, however, I can trust that He will reinstate me to a position of plenty and abundance.  As the Apostle Paul wrote, "my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19)  

Responding to the call to action and giving my all to God results in the blessing of an overflowing cup of His goodness.  

Redeemed

Stanley "Tookie" Williams,  founder of the Crips street gang in South Central Los Angeles in1969, was sentenced to death for murdering four people in cold blood.  While on death row, he had a change of heart and began trying to redeem himself by trying to bring an end to gang violence.  However, he continued to refuse to help authorities to investigate crimes committed by his fellow gang members up until his death by lethal injection in 2005.  His attempts to compensate for his crimes by doing some good fell short.  Since God was not a part of his efforts, the impact was minimal and superficial at best.

God is the One who knows how to fully redeem a sinner.  As He said to His people as recorded in 2 Chronicles 7:14, "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

True release from the burden of my sins only comes by submitting my life to God through faith in Jesus Christ.  The healing that He brings is permanent, deep and meaningful.  Then, I will be called His child and He will call Himself my God.  The relationship is restored and my life has been redeemed from the pit.

No longer will I need to work so hard to try to make up for everything I have done wrong: I have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus.

No longer will I find it necessary to punish myself for all the ways I fall short; I have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus.

No longer will I think I need to deny myself good things like the love of another human; I have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus.

Unlike Williams' efforts, only a commitment to living my life for God will bring about real redemption.  It is then that He will once again call Himself my God and I can rest peacefully in His arms.

The trumpet is blowing in Zion!  It is calling God's people to come back to Him so that He can repair the damage done by His righteous right hand, bless obedience with the reinstatement of the abundance of His goodness, and redeem His people as His precious possession.  Heed the call of the trumpet, O people of God, and act!

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I will pay attention to what God is telling me to do today.

When do I ignore His calling and simple continue along, status quo?

How do I try to make up for past mistakes without repenting and receiving the forgiveness of God.