Jehu was anointed by God. A madman ran in and told Jehu ... and ran right out. Sometimes prophets are called a little out of their mind. Jehu's life tells a compelling story---he destroyed the house of Ahab---so zealous for God. But there's so much more than living a zealous life, a successful life, a missional life. We are here for God, not to build our do-good world. There's a telling verse about Jehu, II Kings 10:31, reveals "Jehu wasn't careful to walk in the law of the LORD with all his heart." Oh, how this makes me want to finish well. Sin is never the way of peace ~ Isaiah 57:21.
And the verse I take away from this passage and will hold dear:
It's a quote from the life of Jehu desiring to walk with his friend in unity.
It's a question we must ask ourselves.
“Is your heart right, as my heart is with your heart?” II Kings 10:15 I spoke this verse to a dear friend of mine today standing in Phil's Hamburger Joint. He had just been severely wronged publicly. Huge loss. His heart is right but it still hurts more than words can say. God collects the tears. Praying for my friend and for those of you who hurt this day.
John 1:29-51. Nathanael was home when Philip beckoned him to hear the glad news of the Messiah coming to their town. "We found the One." From Nazareth comes the "All Good." Nathanael goes quickly. He is both amazed and startled at Jesus' words to him---as if He knew him. "How do you know me?" asks Nathanael. We have never seen each other before. "I saw you under the fig tree," John 1:48--- in the deepest sense, the Messiah was there as Nathanael prayed and thought and wondered in his backyard under the fig tree. There was an actual "Messianic Presence" in his inmost thoughts and yours too. I have to say the same. As a Catholic schoolgirl for 12 years from 1956-1968, we went to Mass every single day Monday through Friday and every Sunday. Sacred Heart of Jesus Church. 3200 Canal Street. New Orleans. The presence of God was there for me in my innermost thoughts as I walked through the iron picketed fence protecting the shotgun house on Palmyra Street every day and scurried one block to Catholic school. He was there. That was my fig tree and he heard all the heavy-weighing anxieties of my heart as I lived in fear of my mentally ill brother. He saw my tremulous hopes for my life. He answered all of my deep pleadings to be safe and sane. All those times I stood with my hand on the front doorknob of my living room waiting to escape and run to Colleen's house. A Messianic Presence waiting with me. The built-in sliding pocket doors separating the rooms. A Messianic Presence standing there. I would not know Him personally until 1972.
PHOTO: Sacred Heart looked a whole lot like this church from what I remember. Image: Library of Congress. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsc.07478. ONE OF THE CHURCHES WE VISITED IN ROME
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