September 22, 2025

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.

It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is still young.’”

(Lamentations 3.25-27)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD TO US:

I have spoken often to the biblical truth concerning the word good as “that which reflects the true will of God and does what it is created to do.” I have also mentioned a more correct understanding of the use of the term yoke, especially as in the invitation of Jesus for us to take upon ourselves in exchange for heavy burdens which we persist in carrying ourselves. I have most recently reflected upon the concept of wait as an invitation to do more than be patient and still but rather to serve and praise God in all we say and do for the sake of others to His glory.

GOOD

YOKE

WAIT

In the character and nature of a biblical lament, the call and promise to action which is proposed by the one who is lamenting is critical. As believers in God and followers of the Christ, we are given free will to choose as we may what we say and do with our lives. Such choice is not a voided nor a vacant gift. It comes with examples and caveats which help to inform a “good” choice over against one that is “not good.” The Book of Lamentations presents Jeremiah’s laments. They are five fold presented in a chiastic formula so we can easily understood what is central to the entire work and to Jeremiah himself. His voice in these laments speak to his own condition, as well as his sorrow and frustration with the nation of Israel. What is happening to Israel in general and Jerusalem in particular is called by Jeremiah, “their portion.” They have chosen to follow the ways of the world and even sublimate the word and the blessings of God to their own pursuits. From the beginning, this “stiff-necked” people who grew up formally in exile and as the descendants of those exiles have always been of the mind to “look like other nations.” It seems odd to me, actually it seems silly to me, that they would refuse the identity and character by which they were created “in God’s image.” In its place, they want to recreate their image into something of the world. They want to look like everyone else. Why would that be such a welcomed choice when they saw the rise and fail, the come and go, of those nations? Any benefits that were observed were temporary and transient. Perhaps, as “wanderers” instead of “wonderers,” they had convinced themselves that “what is seen” far surpasses in value “what is unseen.” Was God really invisible? The evidences of His presence in their “Exodus” from Egypt should have been sufficient to maintain the course. Even when they sinned and turned away from God, His attempts to redeem them and restore them were sincere.

The problem, I believe, is that they had forgotten who they were, who they were to become and whose they were. Yes, it may sound like a chorus of song which you have heard many times in the course of these reflections on Lamentations. That does not negate the truth which is held up by that chorus. Solomon remanded his own children the value of this chorus as recorded in Proverbs 22.6 “Start children off on the way they should go [Teach them while they are young], and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” We can easily apply our three words of today’s reflection [good (the word and will of God), wait (to serve and praise God) and yoke (the instruction of the Word, Will, Service and Praise of God) to Solomon’s call and Jeremiah’s lament.

For Jeremiah to profess “it is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is still young” is the advocacy for education and instruction (active and passive.) I believe we see the evidences of “throwing off of such a yoke” in today’s multi-generational disdain “to learn.” I am not speaking of mere book-learning, there is much value in that, but also am speaking to the learning of morals, values, ethics and courtesy. There has been little respect for one’s life much less the lives of others fostered in the modern age. Seeing education as merely manipulation and conformity (someone making me do something I don’t want to), the yoke has been thrown off and the “team” is scattered “like sheep without a shepherd.”

There is no patience and very little service in the modern multi-generational culture. I say “multi-generational” because the Current General Alpha are the fruits of the labors of the previous generations who in rebellion against parents, grandparents and great-grandparents have moved beyond the scope of authentic “good” community. In some instances, that rebellion against was and is warranted. Advantage was taken of those who became content in who they were believing they had become who they were meant to be and thus “whose they were” was seen as a matter of interpretation based on qualities and quantities of worldliness. Yes, that “God-fearing” generation became tainted with a self-satisfaction.

In Jeremiah’s day, it wasn’t much different. He promises and gladly accepts the lessons which were being taught by God even in trial and tribulation. They were “his portion,” “his yoke,” “his service and praise” and the “good that was needed for reform, reconciliation and renewal.” So in each verse (25, 26,27) the word “good” is used and incorporated with service, praise and discipleship (learning the Word of God to be true in its goodness, praise and service.)

We would do well to get back to these basics in our own generations or suffer the consequences of missing out on the promise of the authentic “good” life which is offered in Jesus the Christ.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.