As you’ve noticed I haven’t been typing regularly, more of in sudden bursts of longer articles. Or, ‘articles’; more of me rambling, really. I’ve been complacent, thinking that I still have a budget of words stacked up so I’m able to slack. I don’t think I want to continue down that way of thinking and behaving… so here I am, just shooting the breeze, rambling as usual, but with the intention of completing what today requires, versus thinking of making gargantuan articles that I can’t see anyone finding any use for – well, unless I’m gone and people need to make an AI-version of me, there’s a lot of material to be found in those collections of 2000-plus words.
Been a lot on my plate ever since September. Been a lot going on. And yet, I’m going to take this time to just keep on saying what I seem to enjoy saying a lot, and a lot more these recent days:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
His mercies never come to an end.
If ever you were to try to condense all I believe in, into two sentences, that’s what they would be. With the intention of expressing the simplicity of the Gospel we preach, our late senior Pastor was particularly fond of recalling a story, one of a Christian author whose name I’m a little lazy to look up in Google. When asked in his deathbed, his beliefs in a simple line or two, we’re told that he answered, almost immediately: ‘Jesus loves me. This I know, for the Bible tells me so.’
There’s another beautiful short-form testimony. But I noticed two things in common between the two, beyond the obvious – That (1) they were certainly based on the Word, and (2) they were converted into song, one way or the other. With these two considerations I’m reminded of the importance of reading Scripture, and how worshipping by way of song also has its vital purposes. One bolsters our testimony, while the other is an expression of our testimony. If you’ve been following my writing all this time you know I’d be the first one to quote what Andrew Farley mentioned, regarding how worship is only 1% singing, but 100% living in dependence to Christ; but here, I am brought back to a key reason why we like to sing.
Actually, two reasons: (1) because the Psalmists did it, and (2) I don’t know what specific studies there are but I’m pretty sure someone has proven how effective it is to commit things into memory by way of song. I mean, I do remember how we were all led to memorize all the books of the Bible when we were youngsters in grade 3: It was in the form of a song with a catchy tune.
So when I say, or rather, when I type how the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, and how His mercies never come to an end, you can bet that I’m singing the tune of the song I’ve learned with those exact same lyrics, in my head. And I wouldn’t really have known where it was actually written in the Bible without actually reading the Bible.
Most of you probably already know that these words were found in the book of Lamentations. Even if we don’t bother to go any deeper regarding the actual grievances and issues the Israelites were expressing in word and song, it just inspires me even more to know how, of all the other verses in the same book, the one set of verses that is remembered most proclaims of God’s goodness.
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
His mercies never come to an end.
I suppose it serves as a reminder for me, personally. With all the responsibilities and the resultant complacency towards what I claimed to have been passionate about, I can stop and take a deep breath, reminding myself of this: That even in all the confusion and the wasted time derived from all the over-thought methods of saving time or making the most out of time, God’s love is certainly for us and is with us, steadfast and longsuffering, and more importantly, though our passions and our inspirations and motivations may stop, the overwhelming love God has for us has no end. Just as Christ lives forever, so the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
By these lines I am also reminded of the fact that though I may not keep track of all the mistakes I’m sure to be making each and every day, it doesn’t matter, because we have mercy – and not just mere mercy as a concept, but actual and real mercy by and from no less than mercy that runs as high as the heavens are from the earth; overwhelming mercies, and not just mercy that is great in quality and quantity, but mercy that endures, mercies that do not come to an end, mercies that are new and fresh with every morning.
There are decisions I’ve been making, and decisions I’ve been needing to make.
There’ve been items that I’ve been considering to stop doing or to take out of my system and routine, considering that they do not give as much value as they used to give – or worse, they take away value.
There are decisions of other people that have been affecting me and/or my family and/or my circle of influence.
There’s been things I’ve been waiting on for seemingly the longest time without any sign of progress or even confirmation.
There are also upcoming responsibilities that I’m equal parts excited and afraid of.
There are desires in my heart that I could not figure out for me to get according to my own power and capabilities.
I’ve taken a mental note of all of these, but it’s not like I have all of them in mind at the same time. No, that’ll be a slow death for sure. Instead, I run to the Lord, my strong tower; reminding Him, but really, more of reminding me in the process:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
His mercies never come to an end.
May His love and mercy continue to minister to us this start of the week, of the month, of the quarter.
Until the next post, God bless us all.
JB's Personal Brain Defragmenter 
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