And They Were Mine

It's been a while since I've written anything here. Life has been unusual, to say the least. Haven't felt the urge to write what isn't read, so I took most of the year off. Lately however, I've felt the need to connect and communicate with whomever might be out there looking, even randomly. Reading my Bible the other day I came across a story in Ezekiel that caused me to pause and think. In chapter 23 of the book, Ezekiel tells of two sisters from the same mother. It was anything but a pleasant story. The sisters are identified as Samaria and Jerusalem, the two capitals of the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah, respectively. It describes their lewd behavior in terms that make you want to shield your kids eyes from the words. Their fall into their lascivious lifestyle is well recounted as is the judgment leveled against them. But this is not what caught my eye. What spoke to me strongly was the Lord's declaration in verse 4, "and they were mine." It pulled at this father's heart. I could at one moment feel what the Lord our God felt as He spoke of them being alienated from His mind. I thought about what that must feel like. A father raises his daughters to be fair, virtuous women. If he doesn't, he certainly should. In raising them proper there should be a love reciprocated back to the father as well as reverence for those things that he holds dear and sacred. That nation that God had chosen for Himself, to be a people through which He could reach all humanity, rejected Him and turned toward other gods. It broke His heart. They put Him out of their mind long before He responded in kind. They wouldn't stop for a moment to consider what they were doing to Him. Ultimately judgment came upon them. Destruction, heartache, pain and death. Total description would take longer than I care to write and you can read it for yourself. I have only wanted to put across the feeling I experienced upon reading this story again. "And they were mine" has a tragic, seemingly desperate claim to former relationship. A father's longing surrender to his greatest loss. He loves us beyond reason. Let's be true and faithful to Him.