It's hard to be joyful when you are being sent into exile. It's especially hard when you know that you are partly to blame. Those exiled into Babylon knew that their leaders and themselves had been unfaithful to God and had refused to listen to the prophets.
Today there are men and women who've lost their jobs because they refuse to follow the rules, and sometimes others lose their jobs because of them.
Owners of companies and heads of corporations have been known to commit crimes of fraud or embezzlement and lose so much money or break so many government laws that their companies or corporations are shut down and hundreds and sometimes thousands of men and women lose their jobs.
Can you imagine asking them to sing joyfully for anything?
The kings of Israel had a responsibility to the people who depended on them. The prophets warned them again and again that they were weak because they depended on themselves and had lost their trust in God. They broke the commandments and allowed and sometimes encouraged their advisors to do the same.
It's no wonder that the exiles felt a sense of guilt, and probably anger.
I'm not head of a large corporation or company, and you may or may not be either. What I am is the head of my family.
I have a responsibility to them to do my best to keep them safe, to follow the law of love and teach them to do the same. I want them and my grandchildren to find joy in their lives and I believe that teaching them the joys of knowing Jesus is one of the ways that I can help them do that. I would not want to them to turn their backs on God because of me.
What about you?
