Filling Heaven and Earth

Sunday August 19th, Jeremiah 23: 23 "Am I only a God nearby," declares the LORD, "and not a God far away? 24 Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?" declares the LORD. "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" declares the LORD. When Jacob crossed the river and wrestled with the messenger of God he realized that God was not just the God on his side of the river, but was also the God of the lands beyond the river. Today we still tend to impart that kind of territorial thinking to God. The territory is less geographic and more ideological, which do a large degree is geographic, but territorial none the less. In the face of that, God declares that all of heaven and earth is the dwelling place of God. Our responsibility to care does not stop at any border, whether geographic or ideological. For our Lord, they are all the children of God.