“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.”
Luke 13:34 NIV
You can feel the anguish in His words. It’s the kind of pain in a mother’s cries for her child who has run away—again. It’s the loving anger you see in a father’s pressed-together lips when his child has been led astray by some predatory friends. Or it’s the weary grief of the guardian who feels like she’s talking to a brick wall instead of an adolescent.
Anyone who has been a parent or caregiver will recognize this plea. “I just want you to be safe,” Jesus seems to say. “I want to take care of you if you will only let Me.”
So many times you turn Jesus away without even realizing it. You choose to ignore your own sin issues, weave webs of deceit that even fool yourself, and turn to other comforts that only seek to destroy you. Jesus calls out to you then: “Daughter, you who run away from the only One who can save you, I just want to love you. Please turn and let Me give you forgiveness and peace.”
Open your ears to this heart cry of Jesus. If you have been running, turn around. Let Him love you. If you haven’t, just rest in Him today.
Lord, let me stay under Your wing. Amen.
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Today’s reading was adapted from Daily Wisdom for Women: 2018 Devotional Collection with permission from Barbour Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Reading was written by Marian Leslie.
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