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REFLECTION

The theme for our reflection is “exile.” Exile means a situation in which you are forced to leave your country or home and go to live in a foreign country. A person’s country gives him or her identity, security, pride, opportunity to thrive economically, and rights to be enjoyed without any encumbrances. When one is exiled from his or her country or nation, he becomes vulnerable and loses his or her sense of pride and security while at the mercy of his or her captor. One of the most harsh and painful punishment God gives to the nation Israel for their disobedience and unrepentance is to allow their enemies to defeat them and send them in their numbers into exile. It is for this reason, “The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, until there was no remedy. Therefore he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans,…He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years. (2 Chronicles 36: 15-17, 20-21)

Dear friend, the key lesson in today’s reflection is that sin and unrepentance eventually send us into the exile of suffering. We are cut off from the grace and providence of God, which we had hitherto enjoyed by virtue of our relationship with Him. Having a relationship with God is the best thing that can ever happen to anyone, but being in exile due to sin and unrepentance is the worst thing that can ever happen to anyone. Although many of us have not been forcefully removed from our country or exiled, we are experiencing spiritual exile. We are no longer experiencing the glory of God in our lives because of our sinfulness and unrepentance, like Nebuchadnezzar, Satan has taken us captives and our lives are being wasted away in sexual immorality, corruption, drunkenness, and all manner of deeds which are opposed to God’s will for our lives.

Beloved in the Lord, is there hope for a person who is spiritually exiled by sin. The answer is yes. It is for this purpose God sent Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour into the world to give hope to believers and to save those who are lost in the exile of sin. We greatly assured in John 3:16 -17 that “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” When we find ourselves in spiritual exile, we must acknowledge that we have sinned and need to be saved. In Acts 2:37-39, after Peter preached the Gospel, the people realized that they were in spiritual exile therefore, they yearned to be saved. “Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” (Acts 2:37-39). Dear friend, do you have a relationship with God, and is the glory of God in your life, or are you still in exile because of your sin and unrepentance? What is holding you back from being saved? The decision is yours to make today. Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20). We are in the time of grace for a time is coming when those who continue to live in sin and unrepentance will be judged and exiled into eternal death or suffering. It is for this reason, Paul reminds us that “…we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Corinthians 5:10). Shalom.

PRAYER (Song: I have decided to follow Jesus)

I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
No turning back, no turning back.

Amen.