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"but as [Jesus] came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep. "How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes. Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you from every side. They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not recognize it when God visited you." (Luke 19:41-44 NLT)
After attending Bible college, I went to Malawi in the summer of 1986 on a short-term mission trip. I stayed with a missionary couple in the city of Blantyre and experienced their Christian ministry in that country. One day, the missionary families and visiting students gathered to witness a procession passing through the streets of Blantyre. President Kamuzu Banda, seated in the back of an open luxury car, passed by, smiling and waving to the cheering and clapping crowds, holding his chief's staff made of wood and an animal tail. As the car moved on, I felt privileged to have seen the head of state, but would I have turned and followed his government? Not likely!
I think that many of the people of Jerusalem long ago may have felt the same way when they witnessed Jesus' triumphal entry into the city. The procession was led by the disciples, rejoicing and praising God, but the religious leaders certainly didn't acclaim Jesus as King, nor did the people of Jerusalem. It was a moment of decision, and their rejection of God's chosen One unfolded years later in the city's destruction, a day which Jesus foresaw and wept over.
This pivotal event was an echo of the unbelief in Moses' day, when the people refused to trust in God's promise of great things in the new land. Their moment of decision and rejection of God's plan resulted in forty more years of wandering in the desert.
"Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: 'Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, "They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways." So I swore in My wrath, "They shall not enter My rest."'" (Hebrews 3:7 NKJV)
There will be a moment of decision that will determine the course that our lives will take. What will our answer be? Will we reject Jesus in unbelief and cause Him to weep? When He makes His entry in our lives, will we take notice and choose Him as King, and follow? Or will we just cheer and clap our hands, then make our way home when the parade is over? I pray that when He comes near, you will sing out "Hosanna!" in your heart and follow King Jesus.
Prayer: Sing with me in the words of Dave Moody: "All hail King Jesus, all hail Emmanuel, King of kings, Lord of lords, Bright Morning Star! and throughout eternity, I'll sing Your praises, and I'll reign with You throughout eternity." Amen.
Copyright © 2021, by Shirley Moulton <shirley_moulton@PROTECTED>, first published on the PresbyCan Daily Devotional presbycan.ca .
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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