The tragedy of failed intentions

The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim freedom for the slaves. Everyone was to free their Hebrew slaves, both male and female; no one was to hold a fellow Hebrew in bondage. So all the officials and people who entered into this covenant agreed that they would free their male and female slaves and no longer hold them in bondage. They agreed, and set them free. But afterwards they changed their minds and took back the slaves they had freed and enslaved them again. Jeremiah 34:8-11

Have you ever decided to do some good thing, done it – and then changed your mind and gone back on it?

I would be very surprised if you haven’t. Haven’t we all? There’s a saying (not in the Bible, but conveying a real truth) that “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”. Oh yes, we mean well; we intend well; but when push comes to shove (as they say) we miserably fail. To start something is easy; what really matters is to keep going to the end.

Jeremiah 34:8-11 provides a glaring example. King Zedekiah of Judah decides to do a good thing, and he expects his people to follow him: they are all to set free any slaves they have who are fellow Hebrews. That, of course, was a big thing.

It was based on ancient Israelite law. As the following verses (12-14) make clear, God had instructed that this act of liberation was, strictly speaking, to take place every seventh year, along with the cancelation of debts (just pause for a moment and imagine that!).

In Britain at the moment the government has been stressing the need to “level up” between the well-off and poorer parts of the country (how successful this initiative is proving is a matter of opinion). Well, if ever there was an exercise in levelling up, it was enshrined in the “sabbath” and “Jubilee” legislation of the Old Testament (see Exodus 21, Leviticus 25 and Deuteronomy 15).

How often this actually took place we don’t know. But Jeremiah 34 makes it clear that an attempt was made in his time. But it was, sadly, a failed attempt: the people of Jerusalem “agreed and set their slaves free. But afterwards they changed their minds and took back the slaves they had freed and enslaved them again”. How sad is that… those words “but afterwards…”

The twin issues of poverty and slavery are still with us – without being unduly cynical, you could say that the population of the world is divided between the “filthy rich” and the “dirt poor”, and the division, tragically, is far, far from equal. Thank God for those Christians (and others, of course) who take this injustice seriously and who work, whether through politics or social action or missionary outreach, to remedy it. The challenge is for all of us to decide what our role should be and to carry it out – even if it doesn’t amount to much more than paying a bit extra for free trade coffee.

But what about other areas where our actions fail to measure up to our intentions?

They may be fairly “trivial” things (though are any such matters really trivial?).

We may promise ourselves to stop watching a television programme which we know is morally bad for us; but through lethargy and weak will we soon drift back into it. We may decide to control our diet more firmly, but still the weight creeps up as we fail to resist temptation.

They may be issues which determine the whole course of our lives and dictate the kind of people we become. If we are married, have we kept true to the solemn vows we made on our wedding day? And not just in an outward sense (“me? adultery? never!”) but bearing in mind Jesus’ warning about adultery of the heart (Matthew 5:27-30)?

Perhaps even more, what about the promises we made on the occasion of our baptism or confirmation or whatever. How sincere we were! How determined to be true followers of Jesus! When I was a young Christian I was given a Bible in which I wrote some words of the poet George Herbert (1593-1633): “For my heart’s desire/ Unto Thine is bent./ I aspire/ To a full consent”. And I did! – did “aspire to a full consent”. But oh the compromises, the lukewarmness, the half-heartedness over the years since then!

What this comes down to is a breathtakingly simple fact: good resolves need to be made and re-made and re-made day by day. Here’s another hymn, this time by Philip Doddridge (1702-1751): “High heaven, that heard the solemn vow, /That vow renewed shall daily hear”. Yes! The manna principle holds good when it comes even to the grace of God: it needs to be renewed afresh day by day.

I’ve quoted two old hymns. But here are the words of the apostle Peter: “Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up…” (1 Peter 5:8-9, The Message).

Dear Peter! So zealous for Jesus! But didn’t the devil catch him napping on one famous occasion? Why then should we expect anything different?

You may be able to claim truly “I started well”. But can you also say “I’m still keeping going in Christ!”

Dear Master, in whose life I see/ All that I long, but fail to be,/ Let Thy clear light for ever shine,/ To shame and guide this life of mine.

Though what I dream and what I do/ In my poor days are always two,/ Help me, oppressed by things undone,/ O Thou, whose deeds and dreams were one. Amen.

John Hunter (1848-1917)