Joel Chapter 2
Scripture Reading: Joel 2:1-27
Return to God
“Even now,” declares the LORD,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
(Joel 2:12 NIV)
In today’s Scripture reading, Joel warns his readers of the coming “day of the Lord”. When we read phrases in the Bible like, “in that day,” or “the day of the Lord,” it can refer to an event in the past, an event that is going to happen, or, more often, an event that will occur in the end-times. Joel describes the day of the Lord to be “great’ and “dreadful” (v11). As terrible as it is, there is still hope! Joel calls on his readers to rend their hearts, repent, and return to God.
In the previous devotional, we looked at some facts on desert locusts about how vast in number they can swarm and consume all vegetation. For those who are visual learners, here are a couple of photos.
Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP / Getty Images
Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP / Getty Images
In the first photo, you can see a man running through a swarm of locusts. To get an idea of just how many locusts are in that photo, the second photo is just zoomed in to the tree line of the first photo. There’s so many in one photo that you can’t even count them!
Here’s another fact about desert locusts. Locusts breed exponentially. With every new generation of breeding: 20 times increase in numbers after three months; 400 times increase in their numbers after six months; 8,000 times after nine months.[1]
Sin often starts small. We justify our sin as if it’s not a big deal. However, just as locusts grow, so does our sin. Take time today to think of any “locusts” in your life. Maybe it’s something big that has taken a stronghold in your life. Even if it’s something you think is small, don’t let it grow into a plague! Rend your heart, repent, and return to God!
Prayer: Lord, I confess that I have sinned against You and that I have put other things above You. I pray that my sin breaks my heart as it breaks Yours. Restore my relationship with You and help me to glorify You with my life.
[1] https://www.fao.org/locusts/en/
Written by Pastor Vinh Luu.