A divine spark. A flashed image. A scripture suspended before me. This series shares watchwords that I believe the Lord has impressed on me for this season, hour, moment that we’re in.
This word—given on Rosh Hashanah 2020 (Judaic year 5781)—is weighty. Critical for your walk with God so the beating of His heart becomes the beating of your soul’s heart.
“I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what He will say to me.” —Habakkuk 2:1
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READING TIME: 3 MINUTES.
WATCHWORD GIVEN: SEPTEMBER 19, 2020
Justice. God impressed that word three times on Rosh Hashanah. I’d taken my seat at service—with the co-vid distancing and required mask. It was a Messianic Jewish synagogue, Shabbat morning.
Right off the bat, the LORD flashed an image that lingered for a while. A runner, one knee down, the other bent, hands steadied at the starting line, ready for the command to GO, run the race.
We’re called to run like mighty men . . . aligned with His ways . . . running to gain Him, our crown.
They charge like warriors;
they scale walls like soldiers.
They all march in line,
not swerving from their course.
—Joel 2:7
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run,
but only one gets the prize?
Run in such a way as to get the prize.
Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.
They do it to get a crown that will not last,
but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
—1 Corinthians 9:24-25
But in that race you’re running—in Him—stop at checkpoints. Is your race being run well? Justly?
JUSTICE. JUSTICE. JUSTICE.
That’s what God requires. Of course, in our court system. But what does that mean in day-to-day life?
It means doing rightly per God’s Law. Being equitable. Having rightly balanced measurements in your daily decisions and in your dealings with others.
A righteous man knows the rights of the poor—but a wicked man doesn’t understand such knowledge. —Proverbs 29:7
Help the oppressed, the robbed, and plead the cause for the afflicted and poor—and don’t mistreat the stranger, orphan, widow, or shed innocent blood or avoid paying for services rendered. Is this not what it means to know God?—Jeremiah 22
Do what He told you to do—do what is good in His eyes, do what He requires of you, walk in justice, mercy, and humility before God. —Micah 6:8
Let His just ways roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. —Amos 5:24
Don’t treat your parents with contempt or mistreat the fatherless and widow, and don’t slander or get involved with sexual defilements, usury, or unjust gains. Do not forget God, the King of all. —Ezekiel 22
Learn to do good, seek justice, correct oppression, bringing justice to the fatherless, pleading the widow’s cause. —Isaiah 1:17
The oppressor of the poor insults his maker, but he who is kind to the needy honors Him. —Proverbs 14:31
Because . . .
To the Lord your God belong the heavens,
even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it.
Circumcise your hearts, therefore,
and do not be stiff-necked any longer.
For the Lord your God is God of gods
and Lord of lords,
the great God, mighty and awesome,
who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.
He defends the cause of the fatherless
and the widow
and loves the foreigner residing among you,
giving them food and clothing.
—Deuteronomy 10: 14, 16-18
CREDITS: Lighthouse with lightning photo by Michael Krahn on Unsplash.com
