[vc_row height=”small” el_class=”dailyBody” css=”.vc_custom_1465516518912{margin-top: -25px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1/4″][us_image image=”30904″ size=”tnail-1×1″][ultimate_heading main_heading_color=”#5fc8d7″ sub_heading_color=”#5fc8d7″ alignment=”left” main_heading_font_family=”font_family:Allerta|font_call:Allerta” main_heading_style=”font-style:italic;” main_heading_font_size=”desktop:16px;” sub_heading_style=”font-style:italic;,font-weight:bold;” sub_heading_font_size=”desktop:16px;” main_heading_line_height=”desktop:15px;” sub_heading_line_height=”desktop:22px;” margin_design_tab_text=””]
Jesus wept for LOST dreams while also holding a NEW dream inside
[/ultimate_heading][us_separator height=”20px” size=”custom”][us_sharing providers=”email,facebook,twitter,gplus”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
Read Matthew 23:37-39
Some parents may understand the reason for Jesus’ weeping. When first you hold your newborn baby, your heart fills with how precious they are your sight and in the sight of God. You can’t help but begin to wonder what your child will become when they grow up. The dreams begin. Then, sometimes, the child you held in your arms so many years ago, begins to make life decisions that lead down dark paths. Parents’ hearts fill with hardship and pain as the dreams they once held slip away. Grief sets in and the weeping comes.
As Jesus looks around, his dream for Jerusalem and his call for the Israelites had been lost. They had left their first love and moved to the periphery of worship and obedience. Everything done was external, for everyone to see, with little change being consummated within their souls. Much like Amos 5:21-24, their feasts, sacrifices, and offerings, seemed to be a means of worshiping God, but they were empty, void of relationship with God. Instead, religious activity became worthless and Jesus knew justice would rolled down on them like a flood.
There were many times God redeemed the Israelites back to himself after they cried out for forgiveness and deliverance from their lack of obedience. God’s heart was for the people of Israel, but their heart ultimately wasn’t for God. Now, as Jesus stands looking out toward Jerusalem, this chapter of God’s overall plan was closing and another was about to begin. The church, the Body of Christ, was soon to burst upon Earth. Jesus wept for lost dreams while holding a new dream inside. Although the people of Israel may have walked down a dark path and away from God’s intended plan, Jesus’ dreams didn’t stop for them, just like parents’ dreams don’t stop for their children either.
Reflection and Response
Take a few minutes to reflect on dreams you’ve lost. How does it feel to let go of something you were hoping for? Let yourself imagine what Jesus might have felt like to walk into Jerusalem and have to let go of his dreams for his children, his nation, and his city.
[/vc_column_text][us_separator height=”25px” size=”custom”][vc_column_text]
By Rich Obrecht
[/vc_column_text][us_separator height=”25px” size=”custom”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″]
[/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]
