I will deal with you according to what you have done,
you who despised your oath, breaking a covenant.
Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were a girl,
and I will set up an everlasting covenant with you.
Then you shall remember your conduct and be ashamed
when I take your sisters, those older and younger than you,
and give them to you as daughters,
even though I am not bound by my covenant with you.
For I will re-establish my covenant with you,
that you may know that I am the LORD,
that you may remember and be covered with confusion,
and that you may be utterly silenced for shame
when I pardon you for all you have done, says the Lord GOD.
REFLECTION
I will deal with you according to what you have done
My mom was the house detective, enforcer of the law and judge. There was not too much we could get away with, though we tried; not so much out of mischief but because we knew no better. However, once caught and given our appropriate sentence, the crime would not be committed again.
Just a few days ago, someone I know finally told me that they were upset with me for a statement made two years ago, not to them but to another. Counselling a twenty year old relative, I had made a firm statement that living together before getting married was wrong, a sin. It was not out of the blue, but in context to advice and counsel. Exception to my counsel was taken these two years. Finally I understood why I was getting the cold shoulder, the no invites, the lack of friendship. I had been ostracized and talked about behind my back; however, I was clueless as to the reason, til now.
Does it hurt to speak and do what is right? Will friendships, prestige, reputation, and companionship be lost? We will be judged by God according to what we have done.
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