Daily Devotion

April 289, 2006

Psa 119:136  Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law.

I remember watching a movie with some people who thought it was funny every time someone got blown up or hurt.  It felt to me, like it was a spirit seared and numb to pain, a sort of sadistic indifference, coming from an excess of watching TV violence.  

Still another time I was watching some sort of comedy where people were making fun of each other, and the audience laughed at someone else’s expense.  A good teacher I know always points out to her students that there is a difference between laughing with people, and laughing at people.  

When He came to Jerusalem, Jesus saw a city that despised God, they had turned the Temple into a den of thieves, their faith had become a ritualistic religion, and they had forgotten the mercies of God.  He cried in sorrow against the city that killed the prophets and those that are sent unto her; He expressed the longing of God to gather His people unto Him, but they wouldn’t be gathered (Mat 23:37).

The Spirit of God does not find it funny when people are hurt or made fun at.  The Spirit of God rather cries when He sees His children going the wrong way.
The Spirit of God is not insensitive to pain, heartaches, or woes
The Spirit of God tenderly pleads and cries for the soul to find its way.  

When you see evil:
Does your spirit ache pains of sympathy for God, feeling embarrassed at the attitude of His Children?  
Does it make you weep like it did Jesus when He saw Jerusalem in sin?
Does it make you wish that you could take the whole world into your arms and protect them form their own evil deeds?
Are you afraid of the pain such empathy would create, so you stay indifferent, or think it a jest?

Patrick Lumbroso
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http://hearthstoneministries.blogspot.com/