Grief doesn’t mean experiencing emotions of loneliness or
sadness, but certainly may cause those emotions. Simply
put, grief means you remember a loved one with whom you
shared your life, that is in the past. They (or your Lord
seems) to no longer be with you.
So what is the “grief” God expects of everyone? The
prophet, Ezekiel, had visions of the Lord God which he
shared with the remnant of Judah in captivity. Jerusalem
continued to be occupied but by those who had not been taken
captive. Ezekiel (chapter 9) saw a man in linen with a
writing kit at his side. The Lord called the six guards of
the city to join him. Then sent them to the whole city with
instructions: the man was to put a mark on all those that
grieved and lamented over the sin of idolatry, bloodshed and
injustice; while the six armed guards were to kill everyone
else. The sin of idolatry the Lord revealed to Ezekiel were
their thoughts: “the Lord has forsaken (doesn’t have
anything to do with) the land and he doesn’t see”. On the
other hand, those who grieved remembered how Jerusalem had
been blessed by God. They continued believing the Lord and
knew He had his own law, standards of behavior, which had
both blessing and cursing tied to obedience, or
disobedience. And so they grieved in prayer to the Lord
(lamented) of the past judgment as well as deserving further
judgment due to the sin all around them.
You may ask: what has this to do with me?”. Let’s test
ourselves (2 Corinthians 13:5). How thankful are you? Do
you thank the Lord for meeting your physical needs with your
money and/or time by giving to others in need? Do you thank
the Lord for the air you breathe or the food you have to eat
or the health you have to even give thanks? Do you thank
the Lord for his Law, which when followed gives blessing
(success)? If you know for certain this physical life is
temporary and you are fully aware, and satisfied of what
comes next, do you thank the Lord for that?
If you’ve said yes to giving thanks to the Lord for all
these things, it is only natural that this would be followed
by grief and lament to the Lord for others who believe “The
Lord doesn’t have anything to do with the land and doesn’t
see”. If you said no, especially to that last question,
then, before the man wearing linen passes you by there is
still an opportunity for you to receive the mark: grieve and
lament your own sin believing Jesus Christ took them upon
himself.