In a broken world, the people of God are not to be a part of the problem but, rather, the presence of God’s righteousness in the world. When we are not the presence of God’s righteousness in the world, then we are not who we say we are.
Ancient Israel had all the trappings of spirituality, but they were far from the heart of God. They had fallen so far that they used their religion as an excuse for justifying their disconnection from the realities of the people around and in their midst. They had their worship but they virtually had no respect for people around them. They even had their discipline of fasting but had no heart of the people around them. God called their condition, “transgression…and…sins” (vs. 1). They went through the motions of seeking God, but they had no “righteousness” (vs. 2). In fact, God says, “They had forsaken the ordinances of their God” (vs. 2). They asked God for His blessings on them, but did nothing indicating that God was their first love.
And, now I ask myself. Is God my first love? Am I a part of the problem in the world or perhaps one who lives as a “repairer of the breach” (vs. 12). How seriously do I give myself to feed the hungry, to give shelter to the homeless, to clothe the naked, and “to loosen the bonds of wickedness, to undo the hands of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and “break every yoke” (vs. 6-7)?
Jesus said to His disciples then and now, “You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:13-16). When many people were walking away from Jesus, the apostle Peter said to Him, “You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69). After Pentecost, Peter and the disciples picked up the call of Jesus, took it seriously, and changed a world.
In 1762, Charles Wesley wrote a song a part of which has these words. They have become a prayer for me.
To serve the present age,
My calling to fulfill:
Oh, may it all my pow’rs engage
To do my Master’s will!
Isn’t it true that faith is not something we simply hold dear? Faith is something we do. If we believe it, we will act on it. If God is our first love, we will act on it. We will live and conduct our very lives in that first love. We will be a presence of God’s righteousness in the world. We may not be perfect but until the day of our death we will seek to live for our God.
Go today, and seek to be a repairer.
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