Jesus entered Jerusalem triumphantly and the city was stirred to
its very foundations, but a strange god was there-the pride of the
Pharisees. It was a god that seemed religious and upright, but Jesus
compared it to “whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful
outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness” (Matthew 23:27).
What is it that blinds you to the peace of God “in this your
day”? Do you have a strange god-not a disgusting monster but perhaps an
unholy nature that controls your life? More than once God has brought
me face to face with a strange god in my life, and I knew that I should
have given it up, but I didn’t do it. I got through the crisis “by the
skin of my teeth,” only to find myself still under the control of that
strange god. I am blind to the very things that make for my own peace.
It is a shocking thing that we can be in the exact place where the
Spirit of God should be having His completely unhindered way with us,
and yet we only make matters worse, increasing our blame in God’s eyes.
“If you had known . . . .” God’s words here cut directly to the
heart, with the tears of Jesus behind them. These words imply
responsibility for our own faults. God holds us accountable for what we
refuse to see or are unable to see because of our sin. And “now they are
hidden from your eyes” because you have never completely yielded your
nature to Him. Oh, the deep, unending sadness for what might have been!
God never again opens the doors that have been closed. He opens other
doors, but He reminds us that there are doors which we have shut-doors
which had no need to be shut. Never be afraid when God brings back your
past. Let your memory have its way with you. It is a minister of God
bringing its rebuke and sorrow to you. God will turn what might have
been into a wonderful lesson of growth for the future.
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