Luke 23:26-31

Luke 23:26-31 As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then “‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’ For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

Matthew 23:37-38 “O 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, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate.

Do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children: as a prophetic statement, these words indicate the calamitous events the Jews would experience in the immediate future. A time approached when they would want the mountains to fall on them, when the Romans would kill 1,200,000 of God's chosen people and disperse over 800,000 throughout the world. As the Romans smashed the Jewish nation, the people would experience an extermination beyond their imagination. Earlier, Jesus wept over Jerusalem, knowing they had refused to reconcile with God during the green wood, when they were safe and yet had strength, when the temple was still in existence. How would they do when annihilation came to them and the temple would be destroyed, when it seemed as if God's hand had left them? Jesus wept, for He knew they had rejected their God by persecuting and killing the prophets who brought the word of God to them. He wept for them because they did not recognize the deliverance of the Father was at hand. Instead, they killed Jesus, the door, the only way to God. By not recognizing the Messiah when He came, they would enter a time of dry wood too terrible to consider.

If we don't know and serve God in times of peace and plenty, how will we follow him when our lives are upside down, when nothing seems right? If we don't serve God when He obviously blesses us, how will we ever serve God when He seems to ignore our prayers? Jesus wept for the Jewish people because they did not recognize God in the good times, in the green times. Sometimes, well-intentioned Christians walk away from their dedication to God while experiencing prosperity and all the world has to offer. Although blessed with money, health, and time when the wood is green, they seek more things: RV's, all-terrain vehicles, the latest electronics, vacation cabins--whatever titillates their flesh. They spend their weekends and spare time in the woods, on mountaintops, turning to material things and selfish pleasures. As Christians take more vacations and buy bigger and better things, they spend less time with God and his people. Seeking a Shangri-La, the flesh tends to increase exponentially in times of prosperity. People often promise God that if He comes through for them, fulfilling their desires, they will gladly give him a tenth and more of their money and time. But when prosperity arrives, they forget their promises to the Lord, acting as if God forgets their covenants with him. But God hears; He knows every word we have ever spoken, and our promises are ALWAYS before him. He does not forget; He remembers!

Dry wood is lifeless. We do go through dry seasons, when the wood seems to lack life, but in Christ, believers are never dead. If we don't practice faith in the green wood, the dry wood times will seem extremely hard. If we do not build altars of faith in prosperity, we will struggle in the lean times. If we are not strong in our faith, when the dry wood comes, we might even question God's existence. I am sure the Jewish people struggled with such thoughts. Christians usually experience trying seasons in their lives; however, a dry wood experience should not bring defeat, for the Holy Spirit never leaves us. When our strength is dissipated, then we must rely more on the Holy Spirit and his Word and less on our feelings. Where we are most weak, He is most strong. The companionship and fellowship of believers also help us make it through life's difficulties. We depend upon Christian brothers and sisters to hold up our feeble arms, surrounding us with gifts of love and prayer support. Jesus wept over the Jewish people because a dry season was near for them, but IN CHRIST we always have access to the fountain of youth, the living water, the green wood of God's sufficiency. The one who makes all things new abides in us. IN HIM, we find daily strength, hope, new work, fresh reasons for living. So my children, praise God in the morning, at noon, and in the night; stay green in the Holy Spirit even through dry seasons, and you will overcome by the precious blood of the Lamb.