Joel 1:14
Consecrate a fast,
Proclaim a solemn assembly;
Gather the elders
And all the inhabitants of the land
To the house of the Lord your God,
And cry out to the Lord.
The day of the Lord is at hand.
Those words sound like a chorus through Joel’s prophecy.
In the locust plague and in the great drought, Joel sees the harbingers of that great day.
Together with the people of Judah, in the days of Joel, we too, today, are called to watch for the signs of the times. It’s going to the end!
The Lord Jesus speaks in Matthew 24 about the harbingers of the Second Coming.
Wars, but also natural disasters.
Paul speaks in Romans 8 about the groaning of creation.
Are we watching the signs?
Does it bring us to humility?
Joel calls his people to repent.
Sanctify a fast.
A time of fine and reflection.
Have we forgotten to fast?
To set aside time for God, to face Him?
Precisely now, that there are so many signs in our day, that it is going to the day of the Lord, we should pay attention to it.
Time is running out.
Watch the signs.
There are negative harbingers.
But Jesus mentions another sign:
The Gospel will be proclaimed all over the world.
This sign is also here.
Do we take into account and expect God’s great day?
The people are called in this text to lay down the work and to gather in the house of God.
Even today you are called to come to His Holy Temple.
To call on the Lord and bring to Him all distress and guilt, but also all wonder and thanks for His gifts. For everything we enjoy is His and He gives it to us on loan as from His hand.
We also have to think of that today.
Even when we have trouble making ends meet.
The world offers life-size opportunities to forget the Lord!
And yet, how rich it is to know Him, in Christ Jesus.
Remember, He only wants to give His grace and His Holy Spirit to those who pray and thank Him for it, with a broken heart.
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