Has not the food been cut off before our very eyes—joy and gladness from the house of our God? The seeds are shriveled beneath the clods. The storehouses are in ruins, the granaries have been broken down, for the grain has dried up. How the cattle moan! The herds mill about because they have no pasture; even the flocks of sheep are suffering. Joel 1:16-18
Last time, we talked about how ‘the day of the Lord’ can be any day, can be the day someone comes to follow Him. Today’s verses definitely talk about that ‘day of the Lord’ being Judgment Day: the day when Jesus returns to judge all mankind. On that day, those who didn’t spend their lives following Jesus will believe in Him…too late. It will be a terrible day of dread for them.
For the unbeliever, Joel 1:16-18 describes every day their focus isn’t on Jesus. With sin in control, the world is out of control. Sure, folks who don’t follow the Lord probably don’t understand that. Literally, they don’t know what they’re missing. When I finally grasped the true peace of Jesus, I felt ashamed that I’d neglected it for so long. I was ignorant.
So are all the others. They literally don’t know what it means to have the guilt of sins taken away. They literally don’t understand having the fundamental issue of humanity – what happens after death – definitively answered. They literally don’t grasp the idea that the way they are living now is like the world Joel describes in today’s verses. In the world of unbelief, this is as good as it gets. When there’s no food, when there’s no joy, when the crops have died, the stores are empty, the animals are dying, and the hills are all barren, it’s nothing more than nature starving you to death, survival of the fittest. Too bad so sad if you don’t have enough to eat.
That’s the world of sin.
Yet, unless it’s Judgment Day, when a day of the Lord arrives, they have a choice: believe or reject it. The day of decision arrives and what will they do? What will you do? Will we cling to the fact that all we have, all we know, everything on this planet is a gift from God, or will we just rely on ourselves? Will we take hold of the hand that Jesus extends to us, or will we slap it away? If today is a day of the Lord, will we receive Him?
Judgment Day, the final day, will happen only when the Father says. Until then, every day is a new day when the Lord can enter someone’s life and sweep away the pain. Will you let Him? How will you react today?
For more reading: Genesis 47:4, Deuteronomy 12:7, Psalm 51:8, Isaiah 3:9, Isaiah 17:10-11, Joel 1:19
Lord, today is Your day! Forgive me, a sinner.
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