Extreme Kindness / ODB

 

Extreme Kindness When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us. Titus 3:4–5 READ Jeremiah 52:31–34 Fast-food restaurant worker Kevin Ford hadn’t missed a shift in twenty-seven years. After a video surfaced showing his humble gratitude for a modest gift he received to commemorate his decades of service, thousands of people rallied together to show kindness to him. “It’s like a dream, a dream come true,” he said when a fundraising effort brought in $250,000 in just over a week. Jehoiachin, the exiled king of Judah, was also the recipient of extreme kindness. He’d been incarcerated for thirty-seven years before the benevolence of the Babylonian king resulted in his release. “[The king] freed him from prison. He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon” (Jeremiah 52:31–32). Jehoiachin was given a new position, new clothes, and a new residence. His new life was fully funded by the king. This story pictures what happens spiritually when, out of no contributions from themselves or others, people who believe in Jesus’ death and resurrection are rescued from their estrangement from God. They’re brought from darkness and death into light and life; they’re brought into the family of God because of the extreme kindness of God. By Arthur Jackson What acts of human kindness have reminded you of God’s goodness? How do you respond to the kindness of God who welcomes you into His family based on what Jesus has done? Father, thank You for Your forgiving kindness. “Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe; sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.”

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT The prophet Jeremiah is often referred to as the weeping prophet because his book of prophecy contains several references to tears, including his own personal sorrow. For example, Jeremiah 9:1 says, “Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people.” And 13:17 adds, “If you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly, overflowing with tears, because the Lord’s flock will be taken captive.” Jeremiah wasn’t afraid to cry! Some students of Scripture have speculated that some in the crowd thought Jesus was Jeremiah (Matthew 16:14) because He wasn’t ashamed of His tears. Bill Crowder